


Tears and Scars in the Darkness

by CastielAndDean



Series: KakaObi Hogwarts AU [2]
Category: Harry Potter - J. K. Rowling, Naruto
Genre: Alternate Universe - Hogwarts, Aurors, Bijuu Tailed Beasts, Dai-nana-han | Team 7 Bonding (Naruto), Dark Past, Depression, Grief/Mourning, HashiMada, M/M, Magical Fight, Memories, Naruto characters in Hogwarts, Sadness, Secrets, Teacher Hatake Kakashi
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-01-21
Updated: 2021-02-21
Packaged: 2021-03-10 17:09:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 28,988
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28360695
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CastielAndDean/pseuds/CastielAndDean
Summary: [Part 2 of my KakaObi Hogwarts AU]Kakashi is now a teacher in Hogwarts and has to deal with a very annoying student. His life couldn't been more ordinary until one day when he finds himself in the middle of some unexpected events. Kakashi doesn't know what to believe anymore when he discovers some dark secrets not only of his own past, but also of someone who died a long time ago. And in the blink of an eye, his whole world is turned upside down once again, caught up by emotions he thought he had buried deep inside of him ...
Relationships: Hatake Kakashi/Uchiha Obito
Series: KakaObi Hogwarts AU [2]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050221
Comments: 27
Kudos: 63





	1. Kakashi's Secret

**Author's Note:**

> Hello everyone. Please make sure to read this before you start reading the fanfic, it's important to understand it better.
> 
> This fanfiction is divided into three parts.  
> You are currently starting to read the SECOND part! Make sure you read the first one called 'Lonely Hearts under the Moon' before reading this one!  
> Part 2 is called 'Tears and Scars in the Darkness'.  
> Part 3 is called 'Lightning and Fire in the Dawn'. 
> 
> At the beginning of each chapter, there's a link to a piece of music you can listen to while reading the chapter. I tried to capture the mood of it with the piece of music. There are only instrumentals linked so it'll be easy to still read without disturbance.
> 
> Have fun! If you'd like to say something to anything that happens in the chapters, please write a comment. I'd really love to hear your thoughts and opinions :)

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> Premium Music HQ | The Day You Left | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kHFdQN3t_tU

_Twelve years later_

‘I can’t believe you’re late. _Again.’_

A soft, slightly teasing voice made Kakashi look up directly into a very familiar face. The nougat-brown eyes sparkled in amusement when Kakashi got up from the stone bench he had been sitting on for a while now, lost in thoughts.

‘Sorry about that. I’m coming.’

‘You better do. Minato will discuss the new lesson plans today and you better take a look at them before the new school year starts.’

Rin and Kakashi walked through the corridors towards the teacher’s room. Although it was nearly September, the air was still warm and some birds were chirping in the courtyards the two teachers passed by on their way to the meeting. Kakashi always loved the quiet days before the new school year started. Tomorrow the castle would be filled with loud and chattering students, making the old magical building coming alive again after the summer holidays. It felt like yesterday that Kakashi went through these hallways for the first time.

‘Kakashi? Are you alright?’ Rin looked at him with concern, but Kakashi just put it off.

‘Sorry. I was just thinking of the annoying little kids that will be here tomorrow.’

That made Rin laugh. ‘Oh, Kakashi, don’t be rude! I know that you love your students. And one seems to love you very much, too, or am I wrong?’ She started to chuckle and Kakashi rolled his eyes, then sighed, ‘Please don’t remind me of that boy again …’

‘You know whose son he is, so please be nice to him.’

‘I know, I know. But he’s very annoying with his loud mouth and over-the-top behaviour.’

They continued chatting while passing the headmaster’s office. Sunlight was floating through the corridor and Kakashi looked up because he was reminded of a sunny day many years ago when he stood here with a beautiful boy whose black hair sparkled in the sunlight right before Kakashi placed a soft kiss on his lips. That memory was so overwhelming that Kakashi took a deep breath and closed his eyes for a moment.

Rin stopped walking and made Kakashi focus on her instead of thinking about times where he had been careless and happy.

Lost in thoughts, Kakashi touched his wrist where a washy, light-bleached piece of fabric was embraced.

‘Are you alright?’ she asked with the voice that always reached Kakashi’s heart immediately. It was caring, but also comforting, soft and a bit worried, too. His best friend spoke to him like that only when she was really concerned about him. Which had been the case a lot of times when they all had to deal with Obito’s death twelve years ago, especially Kakashi. The loss of his boyfriend had brought Kakashi to the lowest point in his entire life. The only fifteen-year-old boy had an emotional breakdown back then. He had been on the edge of giving in if it hadn’t been for Rin. This strong girl was the reason he was still alive today, breathing fresh air and being a teacher in Hogwarts. She had pulled him back on his feet, giving him the comfort he needed and also the strength to move on. Kakashi owed her his life.

‘It’s nothing. I was just thinking about … Obito,’ Kakashi mumbled and felt Rin taking his hand.

‘He would have been proud of you being a teacher,’ she smiled and softly dragged him along the last few steps to the teacher’s room.

On September 1st, the new school year started. It was Kakashi’s seventh year as a teacher in Hogwarts, but he still enjoyed the job like on his first day. To be honest, he wasn’t the best or most popular teacher here. Rin, who was teaching Potions, and Gai, who was in charge of Charms, were the favourites among the students. It had been a lucky coincidence that all three spots got free nearly at the same time seven years ago. Professor Yahiko, Professor Konan and Professor Orochimaru suddenly vanished from one day to another and did not return. The whole school had been in a commotion for days because of that, but Minato contacted the Ministry of Magic for help which recommended the three of them for the jobs. After a quick introduction to the contents of the classes, they became new teachers. Kakashi didn’t regret that choice a single time.

And now he was watching the new first-years entering the Great Hall, following Tsunade who was still Head of House of Gryffindor. A smile flickered across Kakashi’s face when he saw how nervous the elven-year-olds were, pattering their feet and looking around quickly as if they were searching for something to calm them down.

‘How are you doing, Kakashi? Are you excited for the new school year?’ The headmaster smiled at Kakashi when he turned his head. Kakashi was sitting next to him.

‘I’m fine, thank you, Headmaster.’

‘Will you ever stop with the formalities? I already told you to call me Minato.’

Kakashi couldn’t help smiling and looked down on his empty plate. His stomach was already demanding for some food that would appear on the tables after the new students had been sorted into their houses. And it was worth the wait: Delicious looking meat, vegetables and other appetising food appeared only a few minutes later, prepared by the house elves from the kitchen. This was one of the things Kakashi loved about Hogwarts and so he started to eat with a smile on his face.

‘Professor Hatake! I’m back!’

With a loud sigh, Kakashi looked up from his notes when class was about to start the next day and saw a boy with blond hair sticking out in every direction entering the room, his arms crossed behind his head, smiling widely.

‘It’s great to see you again, too, Mr Uzumaki,’ Kakashi politely replied although he had some mixed feelings about this young student. Naruto Uzumaki was the son of the headmaster and very eager when it came to learning new spells and things about the magical world. But he was also loud, annoying and extremely dissentious. For some reason he had chosen Kakashi to be his favourite teacher last year when he came to Hogwarts and tried to impress the teacher as often as he could. Still, Kakashi tried to keep his distance to him as to every other student because he didn’t want to be accused of having favourites among them.

‘I really want to know more about the Unforgivable Curses this year!’ Naruto yelled with enthusiasm and sank down on this chair in the front row, putting away the yellow and black striped scarf he had been wearing.

‘How about learning the basics first? Last year you didn’t master the Expelliarmus charm as well as you could have, so focus on that first.’

Pouting, Naruto went silent and the rest of the Hufflepuffs and Gryffindors entered the room.

‘Good morning, second-years. I warmly welcome you to this new school year,’ Kakashi greeted them as soon as everyone found their seats. ‘Study hard and you’ll all pass the exams at the end of the year easily. But for now, let’s start with some easy repetitions of the defence spells you learned -’

‘Sasuke, I’ll beat you this year!’ Naruto suddenly shouted into the room and interrupted Kakashi. The addressed boy looked towards Naruto with a nasty look, but did not reply anything.

Sasuke was a calm Gryffindor with deep black eyes and also thick black hair. For one moment Kakashi thought that Obito had returned when he saw the boy for the first time. Which was complete nonsense, but Sasuke reminded him so much of his dead boyfriend that it deeply hurt. Although it was impossible that they were related because the whole Uchiha family had been wiped out, the striking resemblance was very strange. Sasuke’s older brother Itachi was in his last year at Hogwarts already and he also had the black hair and eyes, but Kakashi wasn’t as surprised when he saw him for the first time, maybe because he had longer hair than Sasuke and Obito.

But since Sasuke’s and Itachi’s last name was Akame, they definitely weren’t members of the Uchiha family.

‘Mr Uzumaki, you only speak when you’re called to do so,’ Kakashi warned Naruto with a disapproving glance that made the boy bite his lip.

‘Yes, Professor.’

‘Fine. Let’s start with an overview of the spells you’ve already learned …’

During the first few weeks of the school year, nothing unusual happened. Naruto was getting himself into trouble on the third day because he was pranking Tsunade before class by letting a wet sponge hitting her when she entered the room. The two started such a heated fight that Minato had to be called to intervene and take them to his office. But apart from that, everything was normal.

It was a day at the end of October when Minato convened an urgent meeting for all teachers. With a serious face he immediately started to explain the reason for the meet up.

‘To come straight to the point, a student is missing since two days and we haven’t been able to track the girl down since then.’

Loud and also shocked murmuring sounded through the room, but Minato pushed it aside with a quick gesture of his hand and continued, ‘Her name is Hinata Hyuuga and she is a second-year Gryffindor.’

‘Poor Hinata,’ Rin mumbled towards Kakashi, looking really terrified. Something like that never happened in Hogwarts before and everyone in the room was shocked about the news.

‘Do we have any hints on whether she went just missing or if she got kidnapped?’ Kakashi asked, trying to keep his voice calm and neutral so he wouldn’t upset the others more than they already were, especially Rin.

‘No,’ Minato said gloomily, ‘but we will make sure she will be found as quickly as possible. I will inform the students this evening since everyone keeps asking about her. Please keep your eyes and ears open to all strange happenings in the castle and immediately report if anything unusual happens. You’re dismissed.’

After they left the teacher’s room, Kakashi pulled Rin aside. ‘I’m having a really bad feeling about this,’ he quietly hissed.

‘I just hope Hinata is alright,’ Rin mumbled and she seemed extremely worried by the sound of her voice.

‘Rin, listen. I never told you this, but …’

‘But what?’ Suddenly, his friend looked at him with new interest. When Kakashi remained silent, she nudged him and added insistently, ‘Kakashi, come on, what is it?’

With a quick glance around Kakashi made sure none of the other teachers passing by was paying attention to them. Then he whispered, ‘Twelve years ago, Obito made me a gift. A very powerful one, to be precise.’

Then he indicated Rin to follow him into his office on the second floor next to the staircase that led downwards. After Kakashi closed the door behind them, Rin’s eyes widened when he pulled up the blue headband he was wearing to hide what nobody should see – a completely red eye that had three little black spots in a triangular shape around the iris.

‘Kakashi … what is that …?’

‘It’s Obito’s gift,’ Kakashi explained. ‘He somehow managed to activate the power of the Uchiha family and gave it to me so it wouldn’t be wasted with …’ Trying to calm himself down because the feelings suddenly overwhelmed him again, he stopped. When Rin laid a hand on his shoulder and gave him an uplifting smile, he nodded thankfully and continued talking. ‘The reason why I’m showing you this is: Whenever something happens, the eye feels hot and stings a bit. And sometimes it’s even glowing.’

‘What do you mean with “something”? Something that hurts you or …?’

‘No.’ Kakashi shook his head. ‘The first time it hurt was when the old headmaster Hiruzen Sarutobi was found dead in his residence two years ago. It also did hurt a few other times since then and also when the triple murder from a few weeks ago happened.’

Only a moment later, Rin’s interested look turned into a suspicious one and Kakashi knew that she now realised what he wanted to tell her.

‘So,’ she slowly said, her eyes narrowed thoughtfully, ‘you’re saying that whenever something bad happens in the magical world, the eye you got from Obito starts to hurt?’

Kakashi nodded.

Gulping loudly, Rin looked at him with now with concern. ‘Does your eye hurt now?’

He breathed in deeply before he mumbled, ‘It did two days ago.’

* * *

_(Unknown)_

_‘Listen, I don’t want to hurt you. Just do what I say and you will be fine.’_

_The scared look on the face beneath him was making him feel incredibly unwell – like whenever he was doing these kinds of things. He hated it so much that he wanted to stop it, but he definitely couldn’t do that._

_Not yet._

_So he narrowed his eyes, kneeled down to where the woman was laying on the floor motionlessly and said demandingly, ‘If you do what I say, you will live. I promise you that. Can you promise me instead to follow my orders from now on?’_

_The terrified woman slightly nodded while tears were streaming down her face._

_‘Good,’ he said with relief and laid a hand on her shoulder. ‘Now look at me. It won’t hurt, don’t worry.’_


	2. Through the Trapdoor

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Secession Studios | Motivational Music | https://youtu.be/WDxMas784iY

Hinata’s disappearing was a huge shock among the students. Especially her classmates Sakura and Tenten were very upset that their friend was missing. The headmaster advised to be cautious and report anything unusual immediately, but the more time went by without any hints of Hinata, the residents of Hogwarts got more and more worried.

Kakashi was thinking a lot of what the hurting of his eye on the day Hinata disappeared could mean. Minato and Madame Chiyo were the only ones who knew about Kakashi’s eye until he now also told Rin about it. Right after he woke up after the fight against Mr Zetsu twelve years ago, Minato told him that he had searched the forest but didn’t find a trace of Obito or the former caretaker. Kakashi told Minato that Obito gave him his eye after Madame Chiyo discovered it while renewing his bandage. The boy trusted the headmaster and healer not to tell anyone about this. And since Obito had casted _Obliviate_ on the caretaker to make him forget that Kakashi had the eye, the Ravenclaw later realised that this had been the only way to keep him safe and he was very thankful for that.

But now, twelve years later, Kakashi still hadn’t completely figured out what power came with the eye. Of course he noticed a few things that had changed, for example that he was able to cast more powerful spells or that he sometimes had strange dreams about a strange place he found himself in. Minato and he did some researches on the history of the Uchiha family to find out what the rumours were about, but it hadn’t been much they discovered. It almost seemed like the whole writings on the family, its traditions and possible powers either were obliterated or have never existed in any way.

When the old headmaster Hiruzen Sarutobi, Asuma’s father, had been found dead in his residence two years ago, Kakashi’s red eye hurt for the first time, but he didn’t connect the sting with the murder back then. Muggle witnesses from the nearby village said that they had seen a mummed person near the big house on the hill that evening, and one insisted that he had seen a green light flashing out of the windows for a few seconds, but no one else witnessed it so there was no further proof. Asuma had just visited him in the afternoon that day and said his father had been in the best of health. It had been only an assumption then that he had been murdered, but it seemed the likeliest cause of death because _Avada Kedavra_ left no trails of magic.

There was still no trace of Hinata when the training for the new season of Quidditch started a week after the girl went missing. Naruto didn’t seem to be bothered by his missing classmate as much as the other students anymore since he enthusiastically told Kakashi after one of the lessons that he had been chosen to be the new Seeker of Hufflepuff’s team. Sakura’s disapproving look clearly showed how disappointed she was of Naruto’s behaviour since a friend was missing, but Kakashi was glad the boy found something to distract himself. After what happened with Obito, thinking about something bad made it only worse sometimes and Kakashi had distracted himself a lot with reading books and learning new magical skills.

‘So you’re Hufflepuff’s new Seeker? Congratulations, Mr Uzumaki,’ Kakashi replied to Naruto after the boy told him about it. ‘I am pretty sure you’ll do a great job.’

‘Will you come and cheer at me, Professor?’ Naruto asked with big eyes that sparkled joyfully. The boy reminded Kakashi so much of Obito that it hurt because his boyfriend had once asked him a similar question many years ago.

‘Of course,’ Kakashi answered with a smile, trying not to show what he was really feeling right now.

‘Sasuke, did you hear that? Professor Hatake will watch me win the game! Hah!’ Naruto yelled towards the black-haired boy who just rolled his eyes and pretended not to care by staring out of the window, but Kakashi could see the little smile on his face.

It was a stormy afternoon when Kakashi’s world started to fall apart once again.

In the morning he had promised Naruto to come to the training session of his Quidditch team. Although the rain was pouring down from the sky and the wind was frigidly cold, Kakashi kept his promise and went to the Quidditch pitch after the last lesson of the day. To his surprise, he found a whole bunch of people sitting on the stands. Itachi Akame was sitting there next to his brother Sasuke, both trying to keep the rain off themselves with the caps of their rain jackets. Sakura was the third one who was there when Kakashi arrived.

‘Hello everybody,’ Kakashi greeted them and took a seat next to the girl with the pale pink hair.

‘Hello, Professor Hatake,’ Sakura answered. ‘Why are you here? I have never seen a teacher watching a training session.’

‘Guess he just wants to see Naruto fail, too,’ Sasuke tossed in cynically, immediately gaining an angry look from Sakura.

‘Sasuke, stop being rude to Naruto! He’s your friend and you should support him. You’re just jealous you didn’t get on the Gryffindor team, aren’t you?’

The two started to discuss, but Kakashi lost interest in their argue, instead decided to look out for Naruto who was flying around in a certain distance over the other players. His posture on the broom looked very good, and only ten minutes later he started to dash downwards, yelling something nobody was able to understand because the rain swallowed every sound. All of a sudden he crashed into one of the pitch towers that was decorated with the flags of the houses during the matches. Wood splintered when the boy disappeared between the wooden beams, and Kakashi was on his feet only a heartbeat later, followed by the three students. Together they ran down on the field to check on Naruto because the crash did look quite dangerous.

But when they arrived and asked if someone already checked on Naruto, the other players of the Hufflepuff team just shrugged.

‘We couldn’t find him,’ the team captain said, scratching his arm nervously.

‘What do you mean by “you couldn’t find him”?’ Sakura yelled, her voice full of concern. ‘He definitely crashed into that tower, there’s a big hole in it! Naruto must be there!’

‘Listen, Haruno. Go see for yourself if you don’t believe me. We couldn’t even find Naruto’s broomstick, maybe he is already on his way to the Hospital Wing. Come on, team, let’s continue!’ And off he was.

Kakashi couldn’t believe the other players were not even a little worried about Naruto. Their teammate disappeared and they were acting like nothing happened at all? What was going on here?

‘Come with me,’ he demanded Sakura, Sasuke and Itachi and hurried to get to the tower Hufflepuff’s Seeker crashed into. The wooden framework of the tower was damaged and on the ground the dirt was messed up. Everything indicated that Naruto definitely had been here a few minutes ago. But where was he now? And was he hurt? If so, he had to be checked on immediately.

‘Look!’ Sakura pointed to a flag of Hogwarts that was hanging down from a wooden beam. ‘There’s mud on it.’

While she was talking, Kakashi already headed towards the flag and lifted it. And there was a space behind it, hiding a very big pipe that was responsible for taking the rain away from the guttering at the stands above them. It was wider than the distance between Kakashi’s shoulders.

‘That’s a very big pipe,’ Sasuke stated when he appeared next to Kakashi. ‘And there’s also dirt on it, look.’

The Gryffindor was right. On the silver metal there were mud traces like someone swept around while touching it. And it looked like that had been the case because on the backside of it there was –

‘A door?!’ Sakura shouted out, clearly surprised when she saw it. ‘Why is there a _door_ in a _pipe?!’_

‘I’d suggest we find that out,’ Sasuke said while laying his hand on the door knob.

‘Stop there. You all go back to the castle, it’s almost time for dinner,’ Kakashi insisted commandingly. ‘I’ll look for Mr Uzumaki by myself.’

‘No way!’ Sasuke almost laughed at Kakashi. ‘This is the most interesting thing that happened since the beginning of the school year. I’ll bore myself to death if I don’t check this out now.’

Itachi who had remained silent until now just shrugged and directly said to Kakashi, ‘Come on, Professor, let’s take a closer look, too.’

Sighing indulgingly, Kakashi pushed Sasuke away and told the three students to follow him closely, then opened the door that revealed nothing but the rest of the pipe leading downwards.

 _‘Lumos,’_ Kakashi muttered and raised his now lit up wand into the darkness of the pipe. Only a few feet further down the pipe curved and it looked like a slide. There were some mud sprinkles on the metal.

‘Looks like Naruto went down there, for whatever reason,’ Kakashi explained and turned around to his students. ‘I’ll go first, and only when I tell you to come, too, you will follow me. Got that?’

All three nodded, and so Kakashi sat down and let himself glide down the pipe. It really felt like a slide ride, but the metal was wet and slippery from the rain and so Kakashi’s back and seat were wet when the pipe came to an end a few seconds later and he found himself in the canalisation. Making some disgusted noises, he stepped out of the dirty water he was standing in onto a stone tile path.

‘Be cautious, it’s wet down here!’ Kakashi yelled into the pipe and hoped his students were able to hear him. ‘You can come now.’

Sakura was cursing when she stepped out of the water to where Kakashi was, but Sasuke and Itachi didn’t say anything, instead looked around with interest when they arrived down there.

‘Are we in the canal system beneath the castle?’ Sakura asked, still shaking her boots to get rid of the mud.

‘I think so, yes,’ Kakashi answered and started to walk along the way that led into darkness. ‘Come on, everyone, this is the only way Mr Uzumaki could have taken.’

They were walking in silence that was only disrupted by the echo of their footsteps, only guided by the light at the tip of Kakashi’s wand. The three students followed their teacher who led them around a few corners, but since it was the only way and there were no crossings, Kakashi was sure this was where Naruto went, too. Still, he didn’t get why the boy went down here on his own, maybe even with an injury from the accident. He just hoped that they would find him and get out of this canalisation all safe and sound.

When the next corner came in sight, Kakashi heard a rattling noise and quickly raised his free arm to indicate the following students to stop. Then he slowly stepped forward and cautiously peeked around the corner, his whole body tensed on the alert. He had a very bad feeling about this whole situation and just hoped that nothing bad had happened to Naruto.

‘Oh, hey there, Professor Hatake!’

Kakashi sighed in relief when the light of his wand was illuminating Naruto standing in front of a metal door.

‘Thank Merlin you’re alright,’ Kakashi said and stepped towards the young student, hearing the others following him.

‘Naruto!’ Sakura yelled and built herself up in front of the blond boy. ‘What were you thinking by coming down here?!’ By the furious look on her face, it eased Kakashi that he wasn’t the one she was screaming at. ‘We were really worried about you!’

‘Okay, okay, Sakura-chan,’ Naruto put her off with a defensive gesture of his hands. ‘I’m alright. See?’

‘You damn idiot!’ the girl shouted back.

‘I want to know why you’re here, Mr Uzumaki,’ Kakashi interrupted their fight.

‘Umm …’ It almost seemed like the boy had forgotten about that by the thoughtful look on his face. But then he replied, ‘There was this voice telling me to come down here to help them.’

For one moment, the rushing of the water in the canals was the only audible sound, then Kakashi made another step towards Naruto and laid a hand on his shoulder.

‘Mr Uzumaki,’ he dwelled, ‘you came down here because a _voice_ told you so? You should have known better by now after what happened with Hinata. I am glad we found you in time before you went in there.’ Kakashi nodded towards the door, then faced Naruto again who was avoiding his look embarrassedly.

‘Sorry, Professor,’ he mumbled, pursing his lips.

‘I’m glad you’re alright. Come on, let’s get out of here.’

‘No.’

Surprised by the contradiction, Kakashi raised his eyebrows. ‘I don’t think you’re the one making the decisions here, Mr Uzumaki.’ His voice was calm, but also firm, indicating that he wouldn’t allow any resistance again.

‘Sorry, Professor Hatake, but someone told me they need my help. That’s why I’m here.’ And with these words, the young Hufflepuff student turned around on his heels and walked towards the door.

‘Naruto, no!’ Sakura screamed piercingly, rushing out towards Naruto from behind Kakashi. ‘You’re an idiot! We don’t know what’s behind that door, and if you hear voices, that is _not_ a good sign! Hinata is missing and we should definitely report that voice leading you down here to Headmaster Namikaze. Let’s go, come on.’ She grabbed his hand, but Naruto freed himself immediately.

‘No,’ he said once again, but this time Kakashi was very surprised about the determined look on his face. The boy had even clenched his hands to fists. ‘I cannot let someone down who needs my help. If you want to help me do that, then come with me now. Otherwise I will go on my own, I don’t mind.’

Not looking back, he gaped the distance between him and the metal door and opened it by saying, _‘Alohomora.’_ With a creaking sound, the door swung open and led into another darkness.

‘There’s a trapdoor in here!’ Naruto shouted after he passed the door and lighted his wand.

Kakashi was impressed by the boy’s determination but was also angry at the same time. What could he possibly do to change Naruto’s mind? He couldn’t think of anything, instead just sighed and said while looking around to the others behind him, ‘Alright. We will go and see where that door leads us. But I will go first.’

* * *

_(Unknown)_

_‘I assume she is dead?’_

_The deep strident voice still made him shiver inside sometimes. But he definitely did not want to show his discomfort to the tall man in front of him, so he just nodded and replied, ‘Yes, Master.’_

_‘Marvellous.’ Hearing the viciously laugh that followed was adding even more to his uneasiness. ‘You can take the rest of the day off. Maybe you want to see if there is any news on the progress of the search.’_

_‘Of course, Master. I’ll let you know.’_

_Already on his way out, he was addressed another time. ‘You know, it is a true shame that there is only one person I can really trust. But trusting is dangerous these days.’_

_‘I would never betray you, Master.’_

_‘Good.’_

_When he had left the big room, he leaned against the cold stone wall outside on the corridor and took a deep breath._

_As long as the man in the room wouldn’t become suspicious, everything was fine. But he had to be careful in everything he did. Had to plan every step to the detail and overthink it a hundred times to make sure it couldn’t go wrong. Otherwise everything he worked so hard for was completely in vain and he would never get back what he had lost and wanted back at all cost._


	3. A Place to Hide

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading (maybe loop it):  
> Premium Music HQ| Across the Universe | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Y8QYXe4IvhE

Stifling darkness surrounded Kakashi when he went down the stairs the trapdoor had revealed. Only the dim light of his wand enlightened the blackness around him, but it was enough to see the stairs directly in front of him and he told his students to follow him carefully. More than one time he asked himself what he was even doing here while he was walking down the stairs, followed by the four students. Why was he taking this risk and exploring this path that had been hidden for a reason and might lead somewhere dangerous? Of course they were still beneath the Hogwarts grounds, but who knew what would await them at the end of the stairs? The secret entry through the rain pipe wasn’t used very often for sure and Kakashi had a really bad feeling about going even further down. But he needed to stay calm for his students and so he just continued walking despite the growing anxiety in his stomach.

After what seemed forever, Kakashi finally reached the end of the stairs and stepped onto another paving stone way that was short and ended in front of a pretty big gate. It was almost four times as big as Kakashi and there wasn’t a doorknob or anything to open it. Kakashi wasn’t even sure he even wanted to know what was behind these doors.

‘I can hear the voice again,’ Naruto said and approached Kakashi who could not see much in the dim light, but by the tone of his voice the boy surely had a determined expression on his face. ‘It’s telling me to enter.’

‘You’re still sure that this is a good idea?’ Sakura asked from behind, her voice higher than usually and with a resonating fear.

‘Yes, I am, Sakura-chan,’ Naruto replied and stepped forward.

‘Let me open the door.’ Kakashi laid a hand on Naruto’s shoulder and softly pushed him back. If something happened, Kakashi was able to protect the younger ones better when he was the first one to be hit. But the door-opening spell _Alohomora_ didn’t work this time.

‘I am sorry, but unfortunately this door is hidden by some powerful magic,’ he explained, but as he was speaking, Naruto had already stepped forward again and cautiously laid his hands on the door. Suddenly, a bright orange light floated from his hands into the door that was lightening up in the same colour and slowly swung open with a creaky sound afterwards.

‘How did you do that?’ Sasuke asked stunned as they stepped through the door.

‘The voice told me what to do,’ Naruto explained but with a shrug implying it didn’t bother him that much. Yet Kakashi got more and more worried. Hearing voices no one else was able to hear wasn’t a good omen, not even in the magical world. And being able to open doors that couldn’t be opened with normal magic made him even feel more uneasy. Hoping that it wasn’t as bad as he expected this trip to be, he overtook Naruto and led the little group again through the darkness. But they hadn’t even walked for two minutes when Naruto told them all to stop.

‘He’s that way,’ the Hufflepuff boy explained and pointed to their right. Everyone already noticed that they had entered a big room, maybe even a hall, cause their steps echoed loudly from the walls nobody was able to see.

 _‘He?’_ Kakashi asked, now feeling almost physical pain because of the knot of uneasiness in his stomach.

‘Yes, Professor. The voice sounds male. And he is not far away anymore.’

Indeed, they found themselves in front of a big tunnel shortly after Naruto went into the direction he had pointed out without a single hint of hesitation.

‘Where do you think you’re going, Mr Uzumaki?’ Kakashi snapped at him and pulled him back. ‘I don’t trust anything down here, so I will go first to be able to protect you in case of an attack or an unexpected other happening.’

‘But Professor,’ Naruto insisted, ‘he told me I should trust him. And he doesn’t sound evil at all.’

Trying to hold back his indignant laugh, Kakashi just snorted and started to walk into the tunnel that led them into a big cavernous room. It seemed to light itself because there were no light sources yet still there was a dull orange light illuminating it. The ground was bumpy and covered with bones of animals and, to Kakashi’s horrify, also human bones.

‘Stay behind me!’ he ordered, his wand held in front of him in defence. Whatever lived down here, it obviously wasn’t picky on its food.

A loud noise thrilling the whole cave made the group wince, and then Kakashi spotted a flat circular stone panel on the left side of the walls a few metres ahead. It was almost as big as the big gate they had passed after the stairs and had a single but big whirled pattern on it.

‘He’s behind that door,’ Naruto informed the others and pointed on exactly that whirled panel.

‘That’s a door?’ Sakura asked suspiciously. Kakashi could see her body shivering although she was clearly trying to hide it, but he doubted it was because of the low temperatures down here.

Naruto didn’t even answer her question but stepped towards the big whirl. And then he laid his hands on it like he did before with the gates. Again, orange light was floating out of his hands, and this time it streamed through the pattern of the whirl and looked like a river floating through empty riverbeds for the first time. When the magic reached the middle of the panel where the whirl ended, a loud rumble sounded through the cave. Then the door slowly opened and revealed a big and long hallway that was also floated by the mysterious orange light.

Kakashi went in there first, concentrated on his surroundings. He was ready to attack if something approached them. As he stepped further in, he spotted stone statues that were lining the wide stone-tiled way they were walking on now. Wondering what kind of creatures the statues were depicting, Kakashi quickly examined each one of them with a quick look. Every statue was unique and he couldn’t identify a logical connection between them. One of them looked like a giant slug with split ends, another one could have been a deer or a horse but with three spikes on its head and five tails.

‘Merlin’s beard, where are we?’ Kakashi heard Sakura whisper, her voice trembling. Since he had no clue himself, he ignored her and continued focusing on what was in front of them. Something caught Kakashi’s attention as he walked towards the end of the hallway. On his left side next to one of the mysterious statues he spotted something that clearly didn’t belong there. It looked like a bunch of black clothing. His eyes widened when he finally realised what he was seeing.

‘Hinata!’ Sakura screamed in the same moment and hurried to get to the girl laying on the ground, not moving.

‘Is she awake?’ Kakashi asked and kneeled down next to Sakura who had already bedded the black haired girl’s head on her lap.

‘No. But she is breathing steadily. I guess she is just unconscious.’

Sighing in relief, Kakashi mumbled, ‘Thank Merlin. Miss Haruno, you stay here and watch over her. Mr Akame, you’ll keep an eye on the girls until I return.’ He directly faced Itachi while speaking.

‘Of course. I’ll protect them with my life if necessary,’ the seventh-year replied.

‘Mr Uzumaki and young Mr Akame, come with me.’

The hallway led to another cavernous room, but only the anterior part of it was visible. Shadows were hiding the rest of it as the little group stepped further into it.

‘I’m here to save you!’ Naruto suddenly shouted, and Kakashi really wanted to slap him in the face for his carelessness in that moment. But it was already too late. Whatever dwelled in these hidden cave, it was now awake. Big eyes with red pupils in the size of a human head suddenly flashed in the darkness and focused on the intruders immediately. Without hesitating a single second, Kakashi stretched out his arms to signal the students to stay behind him and also to protect them, but based on the size of the eyes, the creature was really big so it would be difficult to do so. Nevertheless, it was his job, and so Kakashi even raised his arms a little higher.

‘Finally.’

This single word pervaded the air in the cave and pierced through every of Kakashi’s cells. It was scary and deep, but also filled with hope.

‘Show yourself!’ he yelled as loud as he was able to and felt his stretched-out arms starting to shake. Of course he wouldn’t admit it in front of the teenagers, but he was very afraid in this moment, not knowing what they were dealing with and if they would make it out here again alive.

‘Tell me your name,’ the voice commanded.

‘I am Kakashi Hatake, Professor –’

‘Not you. The boy I was speaking to on his way down here.’

Everyone faced Naruto now who was gulping hardly with his eyes full of fear, but still he stepped forward and Kakashi let his arms sink down to let him pass, but still riveted on Naruto.

‘My name is Naruto Uzumaki,’ the boy told the glowing pair of eyes. ‘I heard you calling and decided to look who is in need of my help.’

‘Welcome then, Naruto Uzumaki.’

For a moment, the cave was filled with silence, but then Naruto slowly asked, ‘Why did you call for _me?’_

‘I didn’t.’

‘But – but you said –’

‘I am calling out sometimes, hoping that someday _someone_ will hear me. And today, finally someone did. _You.’_

‘How come I was the only one being able to hear you?’ Naruto continued asking. A few heartbeats went by before he got an answer.

‘That will take more than just a short explanation,’ the eyes said and disappeared for a moment. ‘To put it briefly, my thoughts can only be heard by someone I am connected with.’

Kakashi gasped. ‘What do you mean by that?’

‘You’re all unaware of who I am, I see.’ The eyes disappeared once again, but then a loud rustling sounded through the cave. Kakashi’s eyes widened when he saw a big creature stepping out of the shadows. It looked like a gigantic orange-coloured fox, four times as big as Kakashi. There was darker, nearly black fur that connected his eyes and ears which gave him an even more majestic and also terrifying look.

‘My name is Kurama,’ said the fox-like creature and exposed two rows of sharp white teeth, ‘and I am the Bijuu of the Uzumaki family.’

Sasuke also seemed to be really confused by the look Kakashi spotted on his face. Not even the teacher knew what the creature was talking about.

‘What is a Bijuu?’ Naruto asked, making Kurama laugh earsplittingly loud.

‘I see, you’re even more clueless than I thought. The Eagle definitely knows what he’s doing.’

‘Sorry to interrupt you, Kurama, but we have no idea what a Bijuu or who your so called Eagle is. Can you maybe start by telling us where we are?’ Kakashi politely addressed the fox, hoping to get some more essential information since he was feeling very uneasy about this whole situation. With only a single swing of one of these gigantic paws they could be all dead in seconds without being able to protect themselves. What if that creature was evil and just playing with them?

‘This is the Chamber of Shinobi,’ Kurama replied. ‘It’s beneath the castle, what was it called … that magical school …’

‘Hogwarts,’ Naruto helped him out.

‘Exactly. Not that all of this was any of my business, but I was brought here for a reason. And I am not sure yet you are the right ones to know about that. Naruto, that was your name, right? Tell me more about you.’

Thoughtfully staring into the air, Naruto remained silent for a few moments like he wasn’t sure what to tell Kurama about himself. Taking a deep breath, he told him then, ‘I am Naruto Uzumaki, thirteen years old, a proud member of house Hufflepuff. I love Japanese noodle soups and one day I want to become the Minister for Magic!’

Sasuke burst out into laughing while Kakashi was torn between either being worried or bewildered.

‘Hahaha, you’re a funny one, aren’t you, Naruto?’ Kurama’s head sank down on his paws and he looked very pleased, like he was really enjoying this. ‘So, you’re a member of the Uzumaki family, as I could tell by the fact that you were able to hear my calling. And you also were able to open the door to my chamber. I’ll tell you one thing, kid: You are not even a little bit like I imagined my master to be, but I guess I am not in charge of making decisions here.’

‘Wait, what? Did you just say _master_?’ Naruto exclaimed in surprise and took a few steps towards the big creature.

‘Indeed. I was told that whoever would be able to make his way into this chamber will be my new master. And since you’re here now …’

‘There must be a mistake. I don’t even know anything about you or this whole situation …’ Naruto desperately sighed and quickly glanced into Kakashi’s direction, but his teacher was as clueless as the boy himself. Nevertheless, Kakashi was responsible for these students, so he also stepped forward, gaining Kurama’s attention immediately.

‘I want to know what you are talking about. As you might have noticed, we have no idea. So why don’t you start to tell us why you’re even down here, who imprisoned you here and what all of this has to do with Mr Uzumaki.’

Kurama sighed. ‘I can’t tell you that.’

‘But why?’ Naruto insisted.

‘Because I made an Unbreakable Vow.’

Surprised by that, Kakashi gasped, then asked, ‘You made a vow not to tell anyone why you’re here and who did this to you?’

‘Exactly.’

‘Who can tell us then?’ Kakashi continued.

‘Listen,’ Kurama said without giving the silver-haired man a proper answer. ‘I am not interested in telling you anything, but you seem very curious and maybe the time has finally come for me to act. You need to trust me on this and I promise you I will tell you who you need to find to get answers. It might seem strange to ask, but Naruto, you need to do something for me. Do you see this stone basin over there?’ The creature nodded to their left and all three of them turned around. Indeed, there was a basin they hadn’t noticed by now.

Naruto nodded.

‘Please touch the water inside and speak the _Revelio_ Charm while doing so.’

‘Be cautious, Naruto,’ Kakashi warned his student. ‘We still don’t know if he is on our side.’

‘It’s alright, Professor,’ the blond boy replied. ‘I can’t explain why, but I know that he wants to help us.’ With these words, he walked towards the basin and slowly let one of his hands slide into it. Then he pulled out his wand, made a quick movement and mumbled, _‘Revelio._ ’

Kakashi was impressed that Naruto knew this charm. Gai definitely did a good job because Naruto was casting it so well despite the fact that he was a second-year student.

The water started to glow in the same light they already saw when they entered the cave and hallway. With a surprised face, Naruto pulled something out of the water and came back to the others, opened his hand and showed them a ring.

‘What is that?’ Sakura asked suspiciously.

‘Give that to me.’ Kakashi reached out his hand quickly and took the ring from his student. ‘It could be dangerous.’

‘You’re an overprotecting one, huh?’ Kurama laughed, making Kakashi feel uneasy. ‘Listen, if I wanted you dead, you all would be by now, believe me. I need your help as much as you need mine. Naruto – that ring is what you must protect with your life from now on. I cannot tell you why because of my vow, but I promise you that you can trust me. Unfortunately, I need to ask for another favour.’

Kakashi was still very unsure about this whole situation, but Naruto did not seem even a little bit scared or suspicious. So all Kakashi could do was trust that the boy would make the right decisions. That was why he also gave him back the ring.

‘To get me out of there, I need a vessel that binds me to my new master. Naruto, do you carry anything with you that I can bound myself to except for the ring?’

Frantically, Naruto searched his dirty clothes, then he pulled something out of one of his pockets.

The Golden Snitch.

‘Is this fine? I don’t have anything else with me except for my wand,’ Naruto asked, and Kurama nodded.

‘As long as you keep it with you, it’s fine.’

‘Guess I have to ask for another Snitch for the upcoming games then,’ Naruto grinned and Sasuke just shook his head, rolling his eyes.

‘Raise your hand and wait until I’m bounded to this object. I will give you further instructions afterwards,’ Kurama explained, then closed his red eyes. Two heartbeats later the Snitch started to glow as well as Kurama, and then there was a flashy bright light and a loud sizzling noise. After it vanished, the light dimmed and the gigantic fox was gone.

‘No worries. He’s in the Snitch now,’ Naruto said before anyone could ask where Kurama went.

‘In the Snitch? Are you kidding me?’ Sasuke snorted and eyed the little golden ball warily.

‘Kurama is speaking to me in my thoughts, as he did before,’ Naruto replied with a shrug. ‘He says that we can now get out of here.’

* * *

_(Unknown)_

_‘Tell me more about him. Is he doing alright?’_

_‘Yes,’ the one on the opposite side of the table said._

_‘Chatty as always. Come on, I need to know more.’ He knew exactly why the other one was reserved. What he was doing wasn’t easy. Nevertheless, he needed this information so badly from him._

_‘What do you want to know?’ Great. A counter question. Luckily, there was just one answer to it._

_‘Everything,’ he whispered._


	4. Beyond the Truth

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading this chapter:  
> Jeremy Soule | Fantasy Music Daydream Mix | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XbS3tPO9sUs

‘You cannot tell anyone about what happened until we all speak to each other again soon, you got that?’ Kakashi demanded on their way back to the castle. After Kakashi, Naruto and Sasuke returned from Kurama’s cave, Naruto told Sakura and Itachi about what happened. Then Kakashi took care of Hinata and carried her all the way out of the Chamber of Shinobi back to the castle. None of them was speaking on their way back. When they arrived, Kakashi told Sasuke, Sakura and Itachi to bring Hinata to the Hospital Wing and head directly to their rooms afterwards. Then Kakashi dragged Naruto along who was protesting that he didn’t want to come with Kakashi because he was hungry and tired.

‘Listen, Naruto. I need to tell Headmaster Namikaze about what happened and since you got involved in this whole mess, you need to answer his questions, too. Do you understand?’

‘Yes, Professor,’ Naruto mumbled and followed his teacher all the way to the headmaster’s office. While telling him about what happened, Kakashi noticed a shadow falling over Minato’s face one or two times, but only for a second before he returned to his interested look.

‘May I see the ring, Naruto?’ he asked the Hufflepuff boy who handed him over the ring he had pulled out of the stone basin. Minato examined it closely, turned it around in his hands for a while and even casted a spell on it inaudibly. With a resigned sigh, he leaned back on his chair afterwards and placed the ring on the table in front of him, then faced his two visitors again.

‘Professor Hatake, please stay for a few more minutes. Naruto, you will go and get yourself checked by Madame Chiyo, then you will head straight for the Hufflepuff’s rooms afterwards. Got that?’

‘Yes, Dad.’ With an annoyed look on his face, Naruto stood up and was already heading for the door when he was called back by his father.

‘Hold on. Can you give me the Snitch, too, please?’

‘Sorry, I can’t.’

‘Why?’ Minato raised his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Because Kurama just told me I need to keep him with me all the time. We are connected.’

Minato sighed. ‘Listen, son, I really can’t let you walk around with a gigantic fox creature in your pocket. And I really want to speak to him quickly. Can you ask him if that would be possible by any chance?’

‘He says no and wants you to know that he needs to stay by my side. And I should also tell you that you should contact The Eagle if you want to know more. Can I go now?’

Slowly nodding, Minato watched his son leaving his office before he faced Kakashi just to say, ‘I need to tell you something. It’s about time.’

‘What do you mean?’ Kakashi asked curiously, digging his fingers into the wooden armrests of his chair with a bad feeling in his empty stomach.

‘Listen, Kakashi. I know it will be a lot of new information for you and also won’t be easy to take, but believe me when I say that it was all for your safety not to know about this earlier. I will answer all of your questions as best as I can, but I don’t know about everything either. Do you want some tea?’

Nodding absently, Kakashi wondered about what he was going to be told now. While Minato was pouring some steaming hot tea into the cups on his desk, he quickly glanced into Kakashi’s direction with concern in his eyes.

‘Some of the things you know about the attack on the Uchiha family twenty-two years ago aren’t true.’

Even by that first sentence, Kakashi was already shocked because he did not expect to hear anything related with Obito.

‘I guess you know the story very well and I do not have to explain what happened that night, but one important thing is not true about it. The newspapers said that an organisation called Konoha was behind the murders. Well, that’s not true. It was not Konoha. Another organisation who wanted to hide their true identity was responsible for all the cruel murders they committed in our name. For a very long time, we were not sure why they did this, but we got access to some really important information lately.’

‘Wait,’ Kakashi interrupted him. ‘You said “in our name” … Does that mean you are a part of the organisation Konoha?’

Minato nodded slowly. ‘Yes, I am. To be precise, I am the leader of Konoha.’

That was some shocking news for Kakashi who felt like his world had turned upside down in only a heartbeat. Trying not to show Minato how shocked he was, Kakashi asked him to continue his story.

‘We are not the murderers of Akeno and Yuki Uchiha. Instead, we are the ones who tried to prevent all of that to even happen, but we failed and Obito’s parents got killed that night. All of these years we tried to find out why this other organisation murdered in our name – and unfortunately decided to start doing it again after such a long time.’

Kakashi raised an eyebrow in surprise. ‘Why did you never clarify that Konoha wasn’t behind all of this?’

‘Because then we would’ve made ourselves the easy targets for our enemies. As far as we know, the fake Konoha organisation still doesn’t know who our members are or what we are doing. We act as discretely as possible and try not to draw attention on any of us. Being the headmaster of Hogwarts, I’m already taking a huge risk, but this position also comes with a few very helping advantages Konoha desperately needs. The old headmaster Hiruzen Sarutobi was also a member of Konoha.’

That explained a lot, especially why Minato was made headmaster at such a young age.

‘We are trying to find out why our name is used again to commit murders. Maybe to break through our reserves, but we will not give the other organisation the chance to let themselves be the heroes of this story. People would believe them more than us, that’s a fact, and so they would achieve exactly what they aimed for.   
You may ask yourself why I’m even telling you all of this now’, Minato added when he saw the thoughtful look on Kakashi’s face. ‘Well, to be precise, you got involved in something you didn’t intend to – and neither did we, or at least we hoped you wouldn’t. Unfortunately, my son and a few other students are involved now, too, and I definitely need to speak to all of them as soon as possible. But sooner or later you would’ve found out anyway, so I thought it would be best to tell you now. Kakashi, listen – there is someone you need to speak to immediately. I will send you to him tomorrow after breakfast because this meeting cannot be delayed anymore now.’

‘I don’t get any of what you’re saying,’ Kakashi interposed and started to massage his temples because what he just heard was too much for him to take right now.

‘I know, and I’m sorry for not being able to tell you more. But it will be best to meet a very dear friend of mine tomorrow and ask him your questions instead of me.’

‘But you’re the leader of Konoha! If anyone knows something, it’s you, or am I mistaken?’

Minato mildly smiled. ‘Yes, I am the leader, but there is someone behind me who’s pulling the strings. If it wasn’t for him, I would’ve been completely lost by now or made a big mistake. Please believe me when I say I am truly sorry to let you go with this little information now, but my friend can answer your questions a lot better than I can. Come to my office before class starts. You’re dismissed.’

His head full of whirling thoughts, Kakashi stood up, although his head was screaming to get rid of all the questions that were weighing him down, making him almost trip over the carpet on the floor.

‘May I just ask one question before I go?’

Minato turned towards him, his face full of worry. ‘Of course, but I cannot guarantee I am able give you a proper answer.’

The silver-haired man nodded while taking a deep breath. During Minato’s story, a bad foreshadowing had overtook him and for some reason he couldn’t get rid of it. The chances were small for Kakashi to be right, but somewhere deep inside of him he already knew that he was, even before he had vocalised his question.

‘What is the real name of the organisation that hides behind Konoha’s name?’

Uneasiness blazed in Minato’s blue eyes for a second before he slowly answered, and Kakashi felt like he was losing the ground under his feet.

‘Akatsuki.’

* * *

_(Unknown – Flashback)_

_‘Akatsuki, huh? What a stupid name for a bunch of blind idiots.’_

_‘Shut up.’_

_‘I won’t if you keep hurting my arm. Let go of me.’_

_The man next to him grunted, and his bright eyes sparkled angrily. ‘If you don’t cooperate by own choice, the Master will break your will. I recommend the first option since it’s accompanied by a lot less pain. But it’s your choice.’_

My choice, huh? _He laughed in his thoughts about this non-existent freedom of decision. Giving him two options he wanted neither of, that was what Akatsuki called the freedom of choice?_

_Well, he didn’t know what was going to happen. But there was one thing he was a hundred percent sure of._

_So he followed the other man quietly and without any further resistance although he knew he would have to go through hell soon._

_But he had made a decision and would stick to it, whatever it might take from him._

_Because he had to protect one person. At all cost._


	5. An Unexpected Meeting

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading this chapter:  
> Limitless | Powerful Motivational Music Mix | https://youtu.be/5qZZTcRFMCE

This night Kakashi couldn’t get a single second of sleep. Tossing and turning, he thought about what Minato had told him today. It wasn’t easy to handle since it questioned a lot about what Kakashi thought he knew about Obito’s past. And when he had heard the name of the organisation that hid behind Konoha’s name, his heart had nearly stopped because he suddenly found himself in the Forbidden Forest twelve years ago, hearing Obito’s last words before Kakashi had to run away.

_‘Hide and don’t let Akatsuki get you, do you hear me?’_

Obito didn’t want him to get caught by this organisation. Kakashi didn’t understand all the connections back then but he figured that Obito knew Mr Zetsu was a member of Akatsuki and also trying to get the power of the Uchihas. That surely was the reason Obito gave Kakashi this power that was connected with the red eye. And Kakashi did hide it by wearing a blue headband that was big enough to cover Obito’s eye. But now this organisation also was the reason for the murder of the Uchihas and Obito’s pain. It was a surprise, but thinking it through, it all made sense. While lying awake as the moon wandered on the dark blue sky, Kakashi assumed that the reason they murdered Obito’s parents was to either take Obito’s power – which they failed to get –, so they wanted to make Obito join them instead. Hiding behind another name to hide their true intentions and actions, then representing themselves as the good ones … It wasn’t hard to be convinced by them, especially in Obito’s position. Still, after everything Kakashi witnessed on that gloomy day twelve years ago, Mr Zetsu didn’t convince the Gryffindor boy to join them. Obito might’ve appeared as a rough, rude and also distant boy to everyone, but he had his heart at the right place. Not seeking for a revenge for the murder on his own parents showed his strength and also clever mind because revenge was never of use. And Kakashi really admired him for that. How often did he dream about going after Mr Zetsu, stopping him from taking Obito with him and fighting him to protect the hurt boy? In his dreams he had killed Mr Zetsu more than one time, but it never felt good. Obito seemed to have known that, too.

Kakashi’s heart ached a lot during this night when he laid awake without being able to find some rest, and when the first rays of sunlight floated into his room, his body and mind felt numb from all the different feelings he had to deal with in the past hours. Slowly sitting up, he tousled his hair, breathed in deeply and went to the cupboard afterwards to get dressed for the meeting Minato said he had arranged for Kakashi.

‘Use this Portkey,’ Minato ordered when Kakashi entered his office about half an hour later. ‘It will take you directly to where my friend is waiting for you. But you need a password to make sure you’re the one who is allowed to use this Portkey. The password is my son’s name.’

Kakashi nodded tiredly. ‘What about my lessons today?’

‘I rescheduled your classes, no worries, and I’ll inform the students in a few minutes about it.’

‘Thank you, Minato. Is there a specific time I should’ve returned by?’

The headmaster smiled and shook his head. ‘No, you’ve got all day long. Take care of yourself, Kakashi, okay? I can see that you didn’t get much sleep last night and I wish I could accompany you, but I need to look after Hinata and ask her a few questions.’

Kakashi nodded. ‘It’s fine. I can totally do that on my own.’

‘Good luck then. And please give my friend my kind regards.’

By reaching out his hand, Kakashi was able to touch the book Minato had turned into a Portkey. Everything around Kakashi started to swirl in only the blink of an eye and he closed his eyes to prevent himself from getting dizzy. Just a few seconds later he felt some ground beneath his feet again and opened his eyes – just to look into a pair of dark blue ones that eyed him suspiciously.

‘Password?’ the other one grunted, his arms crossed in front of his chest yet holding his wand ready to fight back in case Kakashi was an unwished intruder who tricked the Portkey. Things like that didn’t happen a lot, but it was better to be careful.

‘Naruto Uzumaki,’ Kakashi answered and the face of the other one visibly relaxed. He also lowered his hand.

‘You’re Mr Hatake then, I assume?’

Kakashi nodded and followed the man out of the small room he had been sent into. As soon as they entered a long hallway with familiar dark tiles on the walls he knew where he was. This was the Ministry of Magic Kakashi had spent a few years in during his Auror training after graduating. To be honest, he never liked the stifling ambience in here.

He was surprised when he recognised where they headed to. In front of a dark wooden door they stopped and Kakashi’s guide indicated him to enter.

‘Isn’t there one day without tons of fucking paperwork to do? Merlin’s beard, I’m going insane!’

Irritated by the loud yelling that welcomed him, Kakashi remained on the doorstep and watched a woman letting herself sink onto a chair with a loud resigned sigh. When she noticed her visitor, she just raised one of her eyebrows and looked at him with interest.

‘Hello,’ she addressed him a little harshly and with suspicion. ‘Who are you and what is your request?’

Feeling uneasy, Kakashi cleared his throat and replied, ‘My name is Kakashi Hatake. I was sent here by the headmaster of Hogwarts, Minato Namikaze.’

When Minato’s name was mentioned, her face expression softened immediately and she now even smiled at Kakashi.

‘Well, my dear, welcome then! I am Kushina Uzumaki, chief secretary of the Minister for Magic himself.’

Now it was Kakashi who raised his eyebrows.

‘Uzumaki was your last name, you said?’

‘It’s not a very common name, yeah.’

‘I do know your son,’ Kakashi explained, now feeling more calm. ‘I’m his teacher.’

‘Oh Merlin, I hope he’s not bothering you too much,’ Kushina said with real concern on her face that nearly made Kakashi laugh. ‘He’s a sweetheart but can be very … let’s say perky.’

Now Kakashi couldn’t hold back a little laugh. ‘He definitely is. But he’s a very good student, too, don’t worry.’

That seemed to put Kushina at ease. She smiled at Kakashi for one moment longer before she said, ‘Alright. Mr Senju is already expecting you. Please go through the door on the left.’

Kakashi had never met the Minister for Magic before so he was a little nervous to enter his office. Of what he had heard of him, he was a very curt person, also a little grumpy and not the most sociable man. But he knew what the magical world needed and made the right decisions, and that was all that mattered.

So Kakashi knocked and entered the room after he was told to do so. The man behind the big wooden desk full of paper stacks and books did not look up when Kakashi approached. His silver, almost white hair was short and rumpled.

‘It’s a pleasure to meet you, Minister,’ Kakashi greeted him and implied a little bow. ‘My name is Kakashi Hatake and I am –’

‘None of my business,’ the Minister said and finally faced Kakashi. His copper-coloured eyes with a shade of red stared at him in annoyance. Tobirama Senju looked at him for one moment longer, then just nodded to Kakashi’s right.

‘I’m not the one expecting you,’ he explained when he noticed the irritated look on Kakashi’s face.

‘You’re … not?’ Kakashi stammered in confusion.

‘Are you deaf? No, I don’t. And now leave me alone, I’ve got work to do.’ The Minister lowered his view and started to write something down.

Not knowing what to think about this strange meeting, Kakashi decided to open the door on the right side of the room and found himself in another office, but it was smaller and the chair behind the desk was empty. The owner of the office was leaning against a big bookshelf a few feet away, smiling in Kakashi’s direction while he closed the door. His hair was very long and dark brown although he looked older because of some wrinkles in his face.

‘Welcome, Mr Hatake,’ the man greeted him warmly in contrast to the Minister. ‘I was already waiting for your arrival. Sit down, please.’ With a quick movement of his wand, a chair appeared in front of the desk. Kakashi sat down on it while greeting the man politely.

‘Sorry if Tobirama was a bit rough,’ the man apologised and took a seat, too. ‘He’s quite busy dealing with some problems, but that is none of our business today. You’re here because my friend Minato sent you, right?’

‘Yes.’ Kakashi nodded. ‘Best regards from him, Mr …’

‘Oh, pardon! I didn’t introduce myself yet. Where are my manners today?’ The man laughed joyfully. ‘My name is Hashirama Senju. I am the Minister’s elder brother.’

Almost dropping his jaw, Kakashi couldn’t hide his big surprise. He had heard of Hashirama Senju, but this couldn’t be him. That man died many years ago in a fiery battle according to every history book existing.

‘Surprised, I see.’ Hashirama smiled at him. ‘Well, that’s reasonable. I’m keeping my existence hidden for a good reason so only very few people know about me still being alive. But now you’re one of them and I guess you ask yourself why. Would you please show me the eye you’re hiding behind that headband before I answer your questions?’

Kakashi’s astonishment got even bigger. How in Merlin’s name did this man know about his eye?! Minato promised not to tell anyone about it. Trying not to let anger take over him, Kakashi asked, ‘Did Minato tell you about it?’

‘Indeed. I am the only one he told about it, so please don’t worry, your secret is safe with me. But I am dying to take a look at it. Would you mind …?’

Slowly untying the knot of his headband, Kakashi asked himself if this was a good idea, but since he trusted Minato and Hashirama was a friend of him, Kakashi decided to trust him, too. So he laid his headband down on the table but had to blink a few times afterwards because it was unfamiliar to see the world with both of his eyes.

‘Remarkable and unmistakable. It’s definitely the eye of an Uchiha,’ Hashirama mumbled after he had leant forward to examine the eye closer. ‘And you got it from Obito Uchiha, right?’

Hearing Obito’s name stung Kakashi’s heart and he bit his lip. It still hurt to hear or talk or even think about him sometimes. But Kakashi did not want to show that Obito was his weak spot, so he just nodded, trying to keep his face expression neutral.

‘Alright. Well, I bet you have a lot of questions, but answering them all would take too long. I have a better method to give them to you – and even more than that.’

‘Excuse me, Mr Senju,’ Kakashi interrupted him. ‘I don’t even know why I’m here or who you even are. Could you tell me that, please?’

‘Of course. I’m Minato’s shadow, secret right arm of the Minister and also the man who founded Konoha and stays in the background because there are people out there who mustn’t know I am still alive. To put it short: I’m the one who secretly pulls the strings for Konoha.’

Insightfully, Kakashi nodded. That seemed legit to him since Minato mentioned someone who was guiding him in his actions as leader.

‘You’ll understand soon,’ Hashirama explained with an encouraging smile. ‘I know you’re confused. But that’s more than relatable. you were only told about the real Konoha and Akatsuki organisations yesterday and it’s a lot of information. Sadly, we cannot lose any more time now that you’re involved because everything started rolling now. Please follow me.’

Hashirama stepped towards the bookshelf and pulled out a tattered old book that looked like it was past its best times. With a lout rattling sound, the shelf slid into the ground like pulling out the book had activated an automatism. There was another room behind it, only lighted by candles and with a stone basin standing in the middle of it which looked a little bit like the one Kakashi had seen in the Chamber of Shinobi. Strange symbols were carved into the outside and gave it a mythical look.

When he saw Kakashi’s confused look, Hashirama asked, ‘Have you ever seen something like this or maybe heard of it?’

His visitor shook his head, then stepped towards the stone basin to take a closer look.

‘This is a Pensieve. It can contain some of my memories when I want it to and you will be able to see events that happened a long time ago through it. Please bend over the water inside it and wait for my instructions.’

The unofficial leader of Konoha pulled out his wand and held it at his temples, then softly pulled out a white glowing string out of his head and guided it towards the basin with his wand. Mesmerised by that, Kakashi watched the string falling into the water and lighting it up immediately. Then little swirls of light and some kind of fog started to flow up and fall back into the water.

‘Please plunge your face into the water,’ Hashirama instructed him and Kakashi raised an eyebrow. ‘Trust me, you’re going to be fine. I’ll watch over you while you’re gone.’

 _Gone?_ What was he talking about? Kakashi didn’t understand, but there was no turning back now. So he took a deep breath, supported himself with his hands on the fringes of the basin and plunged his face carefully into the water. Immediately after that, he was soaked into it like he entered a maelstrom and for one moment he thought he was going to die, but then he was somehow able to breathe again and opened his eyes.

Kakashi was standing on dirty ground, surrounded by swirling dust and fog, and he heard someone yelling.

‘Where are you?!’

That deep, throaty voice belonged to a man that was running towards Kakashi. The more he approached, the more Kakashi was able to see him through the fog. He was tall and had incredibly long black hair wafting behind him, and Kakashi gasped when he saw his face.

His eyes were glowing red.

Kakashi quickly took out his wand, ready to fight if the man would attack him. But he just rushed past Kakashi without even looking at him as if he was invisible. He was heading towards two other people Kakashi spotted in that moment a few metres away.

‘Don’t come closer! Run away!’ another voice shouted.

‘No!’ The tall black-haired man casted a spell towards the other men. Quickly, Kakashi followed the running one to see what was going on. And he realised that he had entered a magical duel. Two men were firing spells around, trying to hit the other one to carry them off their feet or do worse.

_‘Confringo!’_

A piece of the ground exploded near one of the two fighters and gave the black-haired man the opportunity to attack another time. Kakashi didn’t hear him saying anything, but the one who attacked earlier trembled and fell down to the ground. Then Kakashi saw a spell whooshing past near to his ear and turned around in surprise just to see another man approaching who was joining the fight now and attacked the black-haired man. Since this one also didn’t notice Kakashi, he thought that they were either ignoring him or were not able to see him. So Kakashi raised his wand and casted _Wingardium Leviosa_ on a stone next to him on the ground. Nothing happened.

 _Where did Hashirama send me?_ Kakashi asked himself, very confused by what he was witnessing. He already figured that this was one of the memories Hashirama had talked about, but he had no clue where he was right now, or when.

‘Don’t you dare hurting him!’ the black-haired guy now shouted, fired another spell towards the man who was already laying on the ground, and then he faced his new attacker.

‘You’re wrong, Uchiha! Give it up!’ the new arrived man yelled.

‘Never!’

All of a sudden, there was a big explosion. Kakashi couldn’t see who was responsible for it, but when the dust was gone, the black-haired guy and the new attacker were gone, too. Maybe they disapparated, but Kakashi didn’t have time to think about it because suddenly another man was coming closer. It was the one who had told the Uchiha to run earlier, and now Kakashi was able to take a closer look at him.

That, unmistakably, was Hashirama Senju. He didn’t have wrinkles in his face yet and looked a lot younger, but it was definitely him fighting the remaining man fiercely. Of what Kakashi could see right now, he was a very good and quick fighter and almost defeated his opponent, but then there was a loud and deafening scream. Hashirama wheeled around, his face showing nothing but fear in this moment. Kakashi also turned right to see the Uchiha approaching again. He was limping, but still trying to walk fast, as if his life depended on getting as fast to Hashirama as possible.

_‘Avada Kedavra!’_

Breathing in sharply, Kakashi turned around again to witness a green flashlight leaving the wand of Hashirama’s opponent and dashing towards the Senju. But then there was another explosion, a very big one this time, and Kakashi had to raise his arms to protect himself from the flying pieces of stones. He wasn’t as close to the explosion as the Uchiha who let out a loud and incredibly painful scream and sank down to the ground, ignoring the flying sharp stone pieces that cut his face and bare underarms.

_‘NO! Hashirama!’_

The pure despair in his voice made Kakashi bite his lip. This guy must’ve been a very close friend of Hashirama, and Kakashi looked up to the sky to escape this strange situation for a moment. And there he saw the silhouette of a big bird soaring up. Subsequently to the loud roar in front of him, he lowered his view again to see Hashirama’s opponent falling down to the ground and not getting up again. The Uchiha must’ve killed him with an unspoken spell, most likely the Killing Curse.

‘Hashirama … no … please no …’

He sank down to where Hashirama had stood a few moments ago, taking something off the ground Kakashi identified as a piece of cloth. By now he was very confused. Hashirama was living, he had talked to him in his office a few minutes ago, so he couldn’t be dead. But what happened then? Did he disapparate? But it wasn’t possible to leave clothes back when doing so.

Hearing this guy here moaning over his friend, who didn’t know escaped somehow, made Kakashi think of Obito unintendedly, and the pain stung him into his heart at full tilt. After all this time he wasn’t over his boyfriend’s loss. Deep inside he still hoped that Obito somehow made it and didn’t get killed by Mr Zetsu or his injuries. But the chances for this to be true weren’t very high by the masses of blood that were left behind in the forest where Obito had been crushed by the rock.

And seeing the black-haired man in front of Kakashi starting to cry now made it even more painful for Kakashi to watch. But then suddenly the world blurred in front of his eyes and it felt like someone grabbed Kakashi at his waistband and pulled him away.

With a loud gasp, Kakashi yanked his head out of the water and stumbled a few steps backwards. Still coughing, he blinked a few times to adapt to the dark, only candle-lighted room. Hashirama, now old again, stood next to the basin and looked at Kakashi with interest.

‘Well, I think you already figured out that this was one of the memories I talked about,’ Hashirama told him and started to walk around the basin. ‘This Pensieve allows people to keep, restore and watch memories again. It’s very useful if the head gets fuller and fuller and you don’t want specific memories to fade away.’

‘What was this memory? And who was the Uchiha I saw fighting there?’

A little smile appeared on Hashirama’s face. For one moment his eyes veiled like he was thinking of a very fond memory. Then he faced Kakashi again and replied, ‘You just witnessed a part of the very bloody fight between the Uchiha and Senju family. Maybe you have read about it in some history books.’

‘Wait,’ Kakashi imposed. ‘You mean this was the Bloody Clash that happened about seventy years ago?’

‘Exactly. And the man you saw fighting aside me was one of the strongest and most powerful wizards in the history of magic. He was …’ Hashirama interrupted himself as if he had to think about what to say. ‘Let’s say he was a very important person in this fight.’

‘I saw you dying,’ Kakashi slowly said.

‘Did you?’ Hashirama smiled at him knowingly. ‘Guess I’m actually a ghost then. Thank you for informing me.’

Kakashi glanced at him with a hint of amusement. ‘You’re making fun of me and you’re clearly enjoying it. That reminds me of someone.’

‘Does it?’ Still smiling, Hashirama stepped towards Kakashi. ‘Well, whoever I remind you of must be a good friend by the way you’re speaking of them. Nevertheless, the reason I was showing you this is simple: You need to know as fast as possible why Obito Uchiha’s parents were murdered twenty-two years ago.’

Hashirama now had Kakashi’s undivided attention. What did the Bloody Clash had to do with Obito?

‘You know what happened back then?’ Kakashi asked.

‘Not only what, also why and who is responsible for it.’

Why didn’t Hashirama step into Kakashi’s life earlier, to be precise, about twelve years earlier? That information could’ve saved Obito from everything bad. And also from death.

Anger raised in Kakashi’s stomach and made him clench his hands to fists which didn’t slip Hashirama’s attention.

‘Listen, Mr Hatake. I know what happened to Obito Uchiha and you many years ago, and I am truly sorry for your loss. But we need to focus on preparing you for the upcoming, unfortunately inevitable events, now that everything I tried to prevent so badly still has begun.’

‘What are you talking about?’

The elder wizard sighed and let his fingers slowly wander a hand-width over the water of the Pensieve. Lost in thoughts he stared into it for a few moments before he faced Kakashi again. In the dim light of the candles his eyes looked like they were glowing when he said, ‘I believe that you are the key to our victory over Akatsuki.’

Him being the key to victory? Kakashi tried not to laugh. What could he possibly do to help? He was only a teacher in Hogwarts, once had been an Auror, but he wasn’t special.

‘It may sound strange to you, but Obito gave you his eye because he knew that the power that comes with it would be useful someday. He was a clever boy.’

Although Kakashi didn’t really want to become a part of this, maybe he could do something good with Obito’s gift. And maybe he could also find out more about why Obito had been wanted so desperately by Akatsuki. Kakashi straightened his body, suddenly in full awareness of the upcoming struggles he had to face with taking part in all of this. But if he would get some information about Obito by doing this, it was totally worth it. That was why he asked, ‘What’s the name of the man who tried to save you seventy years ago?’

One moment passed before Hashirama answered his question. ‘His name is Madara Uchiha and he is the reason why you are here with me today.’


	6. The Unbreakable Vow

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading this chapter:  
> Study Music | Music for Reading | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=t54e9NKg-xE

Instead of resolving Kakashi’s doubts, Hashirama pulled out another string of his head and let it fall into the Pensieve.

‘We have some time later to talk about what might bother you right now. But please watch this memory first,’ Hashirama explained. Kakashi wanted to sigh out loud because his head had already started to ache a little from the last journey back in time, but he still nodded. And this time Kakashi was prepared for the swirling ride back in time and opened his eyes when he heard people talking.

‘Tobirama, please listen to me! I think I finally found Madara –’

‘And now what? Will you run to him like a puppy and wave your tail?’ The bitterness in the white-haired man’s voice was intense and he also sounded deeply annoyed. ‘It’s been seven years, brother. Don’t you think he might’ve found someone else by now?’

Hashirama’s look was furious. ‘This is not about me or my feelings. You need to learn to let me finish speaking first before you assume things that don’t even have anything to do with what I have to say. Listen, one of your men found traces of Madara down the East coast. He’s probably hiding in a cave in the mountains there.’

Tobirama raised an eyebrow. ‘And you want me to bring him to you?’

‘Of course not. Did you forget I am a married man by now? And –’

‘Your wife is pregnant for the second time, I know, I know. So what do you want to do now?’

‘If you would let me finish speaking just one time …’ Sighing loudly, Hashirama added, ‘I want to find out if the rumours are true.’

Now the man with the long brown-hair had his brother’s full attention. ‘What rumours?’

‘Do you remember the attack on the little family from two weeks ago? It wasn’t far from where Madara was spotted and the description of the attacker matches him perfectly. I want to find out what he is up to.’

Before Kakashi could see if they went after Madara, he was pulled back from that memory surprisingly quick and raised an eyebrow when he looked at Hashirama.

‘I’ll only show you the important parts of the memories,’ the elder one explained, already filling the Pensieve with another memory. ‘Please tell me when you need a break, but showing you all of this as fast as possible is important.’

Kakashi nodded and prepared himself for another travel.

He was now standing in a very big, pretentious decorated hall that could belong to a mansion. To his surprise, he saw a familiar face there. It was Hiruzen Sarutobi in his younger years.

‘Listen, Mito, my love.’ Hashirama faced a red-haired woman who was standing between him and Hiruzen. ‘I know you don’t like this, but it needs to be done. We need him to implement our plan against Madara.’

Looking at the two men by turns, Mito asked, ‘But why do you need our one, too? I thought you only needed eight.’

‘I was wrong about the number. And that’s why we need to hide the ninth now, too. There is no other way of stopping him. And the protector of the Uzumaki family is the strongest one out there. We need to hide him very safely to make sure he isn’t found under any circumstances.’

‘This is where I come in.’ Hiruzen encouragingly nodded towards Mito who still not looked convinced. ‘I have the perfect place to hide your protector. Please, Mito, we definitely can’t do it without him. I beg you for the safety of the magical world.’

‘Alright, alright, you two. Please spare me the begging. But you need to promise me something in return. You need to make sure that the master of him will always be able to get to him and take control of him if necessary.’

Her husband and Hiruzen exchanged a quick glance before they both nodded. ‘Of course,’ Hashirama assured her, softly touching her hand. ‘I’ll make sure that will be possible at any time. We need a reinsurance in case anything unexpected happens and we need the Bijuus and their protected items back.’

The two men started to follow Mito as she walked away towards a big black door with engraved ornaments around a big swirl. Breathing in sharply, Kakashi recognised where he knew that symbol from. It was the same one he saw on the door to the Chamber of Shinobi. And he had a feeling of what might happen soon. So he followed the three people as they entered the room and stopped in front of a big stone chest. The swirl symbol was also engraved in its lid. Then Kakashi watched Mito pulling out her wand, mumbling something inaudibly.

With an orange glow, the chest magically opened and a bright light floated out of it. At first it only had the form of a string, but then it quickly raised up into the air and grew until it took a familiar shape. Kakashi’s intention was proven right – he saw the fox-like creature Kurama standing in front of them with an annoyed look on his face. And for the first time Kakashi noticed that he had nine tails.

‘What do you want, Mito? I slept so peacefully until you forced me to come out.’

‘Listen, Kurama. We need your help.’ The woman stepped towards the giant creature and looked up to directly face him. ‘I need you to trust these two people with your life from now on. You already know my husband Hashirama from what I told you about him. And this is Hiruzen Sarutobi, headmaster of Hogwarts School of Wizardry and Witchcraft. They have an important task for you.’

Kurama huffed. ‘Are you serious? I don’t have a good feeling about this.’

‘Kurama, honourable Bijuu of the Uzumaki family.’ Hashirama stepped in, bowing politely in front of the fox. ‘I beg you to help us protecting the magical world from madness. And I also know that it’s a lot to ask for, but we need you as well as the other eight Bijuus who have already agreed to help us. To do so, you need to make an Unbreakable Vow. It’s the only way to make everything happen.’

‘You want me to agree to an Unbreakable Vow? Are you insane?’ Kurama asked and nearly laughed. ‘Why should I agree to that?’

‘Because you are the protector of this family and you have rested long enough on your lazy paws!’ Mito yelled at him furiously. ‘I’ll trap you into a less comfortable chest and won’t let you out for a few decades if you don’t help us now. Not joking, you know me.’

‘I don’t have a choice then, I guess.’ Kurama sighed resignedly, then looked at Hashirama. ‘What’s this vow about? Do I need to swear on serving you for all eternity?’

‘You make me feel like a really bad person now.’ Hashirama mildly smiled and continued then. ‘But no, you only need to promise me that you won’t talk to anyone about what your task is and everything it includes – who gave it to you, what you’re protecting. Can you do that?’

‘Do I look like I couldn’t do something that easy, human? Let’s get started.’

The Bijuu reached out one of his gigantic paws and Hashirama stepped forward to touch it with one of his hands which looked funny because of the size difference. Hiruzen Sarutobi tipped them with his wand, then Hashirama solemnly said, ‘Kurama, Bijuu of the Uzumaki family, swear that you will protect the property I will give you with your life. You can never tell anyone about your mission or who gave you this task except for me.’

‘I swear,’ Kurama said plainly, but with determination. A thin string of light surrounded their touching hand and paw, then it flowed inside them and disappeared with a fading glow.

‘Thank you, Kurama. Now take this and fulfil your duty.’ Hashirama reached out his other hand to give Kurama something Kakashi couldn’t see very well because it was a small object. But before he was able to take some steps forward to take a closer look, Kurama already took the item and vanished back into the chest behind him with an orange glowing light.

In the moment the chest closed, Kakashi was pulled back to reality.

‘I assume you have questions,’ Hashirama said when Kakashi stepped back with a cough. ‘Let’s sit down.’

They went into the other room again and Kakashi’s body felt extremely tired like he had participated in marathon a few moments ago. But his curiosity was too big and so he still started to ask Hashirama about what he just witnessed. The elder one told him that when he had found out about Madara’s plans, he wanted to stop him at all cost. That was why he convinced all nine Bijuus to help him prevent Madara from fulfilling his plan. And he also explained that a Bijuu was a magical creature that protected one of the nine biggest magical families. In Kurama’s case it was the Uzumaki family.

‘But what exactly was Madara’s plan?’ Kakashi asked, now even more confused than before. For one moment, Hashirama just looked at Kakashi as if he was thinking about how to tell him, then he answered, ‘it’s for your own safety if you don’t know about his plan, but enough to understand what is going on at the moment and why we need your help to foil it.’

Finally, it dawned on Kakashi what Hashirama was trying to tell him, and his body tightened. Could this really be true?

‘Are you saying Madara’s plan is still going on?’ he dared to ask quietly, and when Hashirama nodded, Kakashi sighed out.

‘Madara is still alive,’ Hashirama told him. ‘And he is mightier than ever and is also the leader of Akatsuki.’

That loads of information were hard to swallow. Although Kakashi didn’t think he understood everything by now, he asked, ‘But what does all of this has to do with me? I still don’t understand.’

Hashirama smiled at him. ‘You got that eye from an Uchiha. And only the power of the Uchiha family is able to stop Madara.’

‘So you’re saying that I need to defeat him?’

‘That’s what we believe, yes.’

Kakashi bit his lip under his mask. ‘How? I’m not even able to use that so called power of the Uchiha. And I bet I’m not even half as strong as Madara.’

Nodding, Hashirama said, ‘That’s why you need to become stronger as soon as possible now. And I do have the perfect man for this job, so don’t worry, he’ll teach you everything you’ll need to know about the power that comes with the eye.’

‘But all Uchihas are dead, except for Madara,’ Kakashi interjected, feeling a sting in his heart because he realised it was the first time he admitted that he believed Obito was dead out loud. And it hurt like hell.

The knowing smile on Hashirama’s face a few seconds later drove the teacher nearly insane. ‘There are more Uchihas out there than you know of by now, Mr Hatake.’

What was Hashirama implying here? Was he saying that Obito … No, that couldn’t be.

Before he could give in to that thought, Kakashi quickly asked, ‘But why me if there are other Uchihas? Why didn’t you let me know about all of this earlier if you need me to defeat Madara?’

For a long moment, Hashirama just looked at him. Then he finally said, ‘You are the only one who can do it. I can’t tell you why, but you need to trust me, Mr Hatake. Please.’

‘That’s a lot to ask for, you know. I should accept the fact that I need to kill the most powerful wizard out there, but I cannot know why I am the only one who can do that or what his plan is. I don’t really like that.’

‘I am truly sorry. I really am. But for now, please accept the information I gave you. Only a few chosen people know more about these details. You will know about them soon, too, but not now.’

Although Hashirama sounded truly concerning, there was an undertone in his voice that indicated Kakashi to not bother asking on this topic anymore right now. His head had started to pound painfully a few minutes ago, but now it was turning into a really intense and hurtful headache. Trying to ease it by massaging his temples, Kakashi asked, ‘Can we stop here for today then? My head feels like it’s going to explode any moment.’

‘Of course. It’s a lot to take and not easy to suddenly find yourself involved in such dangerous events. I’ll send you an owl to invite you here again for the next memories you should take a look at.’

Kakashi stood up. ‘I still need to know one last thing before I leave. What does all of this has to do with you? Why did you even search for Madara after that fight? I always thought the Bloody Clash was between the Senjus and the Uchihas. Madara was an Uchiha so he should’ve been your enemy. But it didn’t look like he was fighting you, instead he protected you. Why did he do that?’

Hashirama bit his lip and avoided Kakashi’s forceful look. What made Kakashi raise an eyebrow in surprise.

‘Answer me, please,’ Kakashi insisted.

‘I’ll give you an answer next time we meet, it’s already late. You should return to Hogwarts. I’ll contact you in the near future.’

‘Alright. Thank you for today then,’ Kakashi said soberly. He felt that Hashirama did not want to talk about that right now.

The elder wizard just nodded. ‘You’re welcome. See you soon.’

Tobirama didn’t look up or said anything when Kakashi left the office, but Kushina asked him if he could greet her son from her.

‘I don’t think this is a good idea since this was a secret visit. Why don’t you write him a letter?’

‘Oh, right, I completely forgot. Sorry. You know, I just miss my boy. But Minato does know about this, yes? Then please give him a hug from me.’

‘Umm, sorry, but … I don’t do hugs …’ Kakashi was feeling very uneasy, but Kushina just started to chuckle, then smiled at him with pale pink cheeks.

‘You’ll get there, I’m pretty sure. See you soon hopefully.’

Wondering about this strange but also funny woman, Kakashi shook his head in disbelief when he closed the door behind him.

What a crazy day this one had been.


	7. The Very Secret Family

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this soundtrack while reading this chapter:  
> Ean Grimm | Mysterious Fantasy Music | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=m3iooWhw94U

After Kakashi arrived at Hogwarts again, Minato asked him how the meeting went, but Kakashi just waved him off, mumbling that he didn’t want to talk about it right now.

‘Alright, see you at dinner then!’ Minato shouted after him when Kakashi left his office quickly.

As soon as he got to his private rooms, he sank down on his bed and didn’t get up for a while. Afterwards he couldn’t even tell if he had fallen asleep or just laid awake there with his eyes closed, but when he realised that the sun was already setting slowly, Kakashi sat up with a sigh. Then he took his cape and clothes off to take a shower in the small bathroom next to his wardrobe.

The warm water was a relief for his restless mind and pounding headache. While it was streaming down his body, Kakashi’s thoughts went back to what Hashirama had shown him.

‘Obito …’ The name slipped his trembling lips with a desperate voice full of tears. And then Kakashi just sat there on the white tiles crying while the warm water of the shower pattered down on him.

When the evening was already dawning and it was time for dinner, Kakashi still didn’t leave his bedroom. He just laid on the bed, curled up, staring to the ceiling while thinking about old times. At first he had tried to suppress the urge to think of Obito and the memories they shared, but it was almost like something inside him made him do that at all cost and so he gave in at some point, letting the jumbled memories passing by. When he closed his eyes, he could almost feel the warmth of Obito’s soft lips on his own again. After all this time he saw the face of his boyfriend clearly before his inner eye. His sparkling dark eyes, the soft sway of his lips when he smiled at Kakashi. And Kakashi was also able to feel Obito’s gentle touches on his body again like it all just happened yesterday.

 _Oh Obito,_ he thought at some point. _I really hope you found some peace. Please wait a little bit longer for me._

The next time Kakashi opened his eyes, it was already morning. Stretching out his stiff muscles, he got up and walked towards the little window to look outside. A blue sky greeted him and made him smile, also gave him some motivation for the day. Maybe he could take a walk through the Hogwarts grounds in the afternoon to think about what he discovered yesterday.

He went straight to the Great Hall to grab some breakfast before class because his stomach was already complaining about its emptiness. At least his headache was gone so he was feeling a lot better than yesterday. Minato wasn’t there for some reason but it didn’t bother Kakashi because this way he didn’t get asked some questions he didn’t want to answer right now.

‘Good morning, Miss Hyuuga,’ Kakashi greeted when he passed the Gryffindor’s table and saw the girl he rescued with some of his students two days ago. ‘How are you feeling?’

The black-haired girl with the pale eyes looked at him in embarrassment with her cheeks blushed in a deep red colour. ‘I … I am feeling better, thank … thank you, Professor Hatake.’

With a smile, Kakashi waved her goodbye because she clearly did not want to talk about the topic any further right now and since he was seeing her in class this day, he would check on her later again. For now, he headed off to Rin’s office.

‘Kakashi! It’s so good to see you!’ Rin’s voice sounded worried and she nearly made her chair fell over when she jumped to her feet, rushed to Kakashi and hugged him tightly. ‘When I went to Minato yesterday to ask where you are, he didn’t tell me anything. What happened? Are you alright?’

‘Slowly, Rin,’ Kakashi laughed and tried to free himself from her tight hug. ‘The problem is that I can’t tell you about my whereabouts yesterday because it’s secret. I am doing fine though, don’t worry.’

Resentfully snorting, Rin sat down again and crossed her arms in front of her chest, looking disappointed. ‘But, Kakashi, I really want to know!’

‘I’ll see what I can do then.’ Although Kakashi didn’t want Rin to get involved into all of this mess, it would be a relief to be able to talk to someone about it.

‘Please, Kakashi – tell me what is going on. I am worried about you. And even though you say you’re fine, you look really, really exhausted.’

Kakashi just shook his head. ‘I am sorry, Rin, but I can’t. The reason why I’m here is because I wanted to check how you’re doing.’

With another disappointed look, Rin sighed and finally gave in. ‘I’m doing alright. Although I am quickly tired lately, must be the upcoming winter. Oh, Kakashi, what I wanted to ask you: Last week you said you’re going to Hogsmeade soon. Could you maybe get me some of those delicious gummy snakes you got me last time? I think I can’t make it there on my own. Minato gave me a few extra things to take care of.’

Surprised by that, Kakashi asked, ‘You mean those awful sweets that taste like rotten cabbage? Don’t tell me you liked them! Yuck!’

Rin just laughed. ‘I really like the taste!’

‘You’re weird sometimes, you know that?’ With his mood brightened, Kakashi turned around now that he checked on Rin and saw for himself that she was doing fine. He had to do some stuff for his own classes and went to his office to prepare the next lesson that was about to start in fifteen minutes.

In the afternoon, he met Minato in the hallway before the Great Hall. As soon as the headmaster spotted him, he walked towards Kakashi and pulled him aside.

‘Kakashi, it’s good to see you. Can you come to my office after dinner? I need to talk about a few things with you.’

Agreeing, Kakashi nodded and went off to the afternoon lessons. Even though he tried his best, he wasn’t able to fully concentrate on what he was doing and so he let the students do some research on the spell they were learning more about this week. When the lesson was finally over, Kakashi went straight to Minato’s office where the headmaster was already waiting for him with three cups of tea on his desk. Was he expecting someone else besides Kakashi?

His question was answered only a few moments later when someone else entered the room, making Kakashi raise his eyebrows in surprise.

‘Mr Akame, it’s good to see you,’ Minato greeted Itachi with a smile while he sat down on the third chair at the table. ‘You two already know each other. But for this special occasion, your roles are switched. Mr Akame will be your teacher in these private lessons from now on, Mr Hatake.’

‘Private lessons? What are you talking about?’ Kakashi let his view wander from Minato to Itachi and back, still having no clue what was going on here.

‘I’ll teach you how to use the eye,’ Itachi said straightforwardly and glanced into Kakashi’s direction. Now Kakashi was completely irritated and sighed.

‘I think I’ll stop wondering why you even know about the eye. So how do you know about its powers?’

Minato replied instead of Itachi by saying, ‘Hashirama told me you already got told that there are more Uchiha out there, right? Well, one of them is sitting next to you right now.’

Although that explained why Kakashi was reminded of Obito when he saw Itachi and Sasuke for the first time, he wasn’t able to fully realise it by now. Why was his whole world turned upside down since two days? Kakashi felt like he didn’t had any time left to breathe. But he tried not to show all of this, instead asked, ‘So you’re an Uchiha, Itachi? How come your last name is Akame then?’

‘My father was the son of Akiko Uchiha and Taro Akame and he got the last name from his father. Sasuke and I did, too.’

Well, that was a logical explanation. But how come nobody knew about this? Everybody assumed Obito’s family members had been the last living Uchihas.

‘Let me explain it a bit deeper,’ Minato stepped in when he saw the confusion on Kakashi’s face. ‘Did Hashirama already tell you what happened seventy years ago between the Senju and the Uchiha family?’

‘He did not explain what happened afterwards, but I know it from the history books,’ Kakashi replied. ‘For an unknown reason, every remaining member of the Uchiha family was killed by someone shortly after the Bloody Clash. But then one day Obito’s parents appeared out of nowhere.’

‘The sources of the history books are not very reliable, but they hid the truth for a good reason. Not many people knew of the existence of the remaining Uchihas until Obito was born and Konoha did everything they could to protect and hide them. But unfortunately, the Akatsuki group got information from a spy they had planted into Konoha’s ranks. That was the reason why the two remaining Uchihas got killed in the end.’

Kakashi bit his lip under his mask. Something about this whole story still seemed off and he did not know what it was. It was like a puzzle where a piece was missing to reveal an important detail of the whole picture.

‘Why where the Uchihas even killed after the Bloody Clash in the first place? Who was responsible for that? Akatsuki?’

‘Akatsuki wasn’t formed yet back then,’ Minato said, shaking his head. ‘I guess Hashirama told you that Madara survived the Bloody Clash. To make it short: We think he killed the rest of his family and we have a few assumptions on why he might’ve done it. But there is one thing we knew of that Madara didn’t know.’

Itachi continued what Minato had started to tell. ‘Izuna, Madara’s younger brother, died in the Bloody Clash, but Madara didn’t knew he had a girlfriend and that she was pregnant at that time,’ he added. ‘Luckily, Hashirama found out about that shortly after the end of the fight. And he took Izuna’s girlfriend Kitsune with him and told her he would protect her. I don’t know about all of the details, but Kitsune gave birth to my grandmother and also to Obito’s. They were twins. Hashirama hid them because he had a feeling that Madara didn’t kill himself after he murdered the rest of the family and that they needed protection. Unfortunately, Madara somehow got to know that Obito’s father was an Uchiha, that’s why he killed him and his wife Akeno. But the spy in Konoha’s ranks didn’t know about my part of the family, that’s why we survived. We Uchihas never showed ourselves in public to protect ourselves and lived somewhere hidden by magic. Sasuke and me are the latest relatives of the Uchiha family.’

‘Why were you still sent to Hogwarts then? Madara surely knows about you by now.’

‘Hogwarts is the best place to be protected at the moment, and we do believe that he knows about us already. There are so many talented wizards here so that Hashirama thought it would be the best place for Sasuke and me to stay here during the events that will unfortunately happen in the future.’

‘So you also have the power of the Uchiha then, right?’ Kakashi concluded of what he heard by now. Instead of a spoken answer, Itachi closed his eyes for one moment and when he opened them again, Kakashi breathed in sharply. The student’s eyes glowed in an intense red. Now there was no doubt left.

‘I’ll show you what power comes with the eye and how to use it best,’ Itachi explained and Kakashi nodded. Slowly everything started to make sense, but there was a lot he still didn’t understand by now. Nevertheless, he agreed to be taught by Itachi. He was sure to find out something more during these private lessons.

They all agreed to Minato’s recommendation to train shortly after the afternoon lessons every day. The headmaster also promised that Itachi was completely freed from every homework and other tasks to do so and Kakashi should give some of his work to other teachers to gain himself some free time for the training sessions.

The first one was already set for the next day. Minato organised an extra room for their training in the dungeons to make sure they weren’t seen by many residents of the castle. Itachi already waited for Kakashi when he arrived. The classroom was only lighted by some dull candles on a table and lanterns on the wall. It looked like it hadn’t been in use for ages.

‘What do you know about the power of the Uchiha yet?’ Itachi asked when Kakashi had closed the door behind him. The young man was standing a few metres ahead. Every furniture item had been moved to the walls and there was now plenty of free space in the room to cast some spells.

‘Not much,’ Kakashi replied. ‘I know that the power only runs in the Uchiha family for some reason. And since I got this eye from an Uchiha myself, I discovered that my magical stamina increased and that I can cast more powerful spells.’

Kakashi hesitated to tell Itachi about the stings. He could tell him later if necessary, but for now it was better to keep it a secret because he had a bad feeling about them for some reason.

‘It’s right that the Uchiha family has more magical power than the other families, but that doesn’t mean we’re better fighters. It’s all strategy.’ Itachi paused for a moment. ‘I noticed that you cannot turn your eye normal again, most likely because you are not the original owner. This might be a problem because if you use the power for too long, it can be really exhausting.’

‘I’ll let you know when I get tired,’ Kakashi said. ‘But I think it might be best if you could show me what you can do with your power.’

Itachi nodded. ‘Alright. But for now, please leave your headband on.’ He closed his eyes for a moment, then opened them again and now they were glowing red.

‘Attack me,’ he demanded. Kakashi raised his wand and casted a simple Disarming spell because he wasn’t sure what else to do. This was a weird situation for him: duelling a student he usually was teaching how to fight.

‘Come on,’ Itachi complained. ‘I know you can do better.’

 _‘Impedimenta!’_ Kakashi yelled, seeing a red light leaving his wand and dashing towards Itachi. But he just waved his wand and diverted the spell so Kakashi had to step aside to not be hit by it.

‘Wow,’ he commented. ‘That was impressive.’

‘It’s easy to do that. The power of the Uchiha allows you to anticipate your opponent’s next moves. Oh, and in case you didn’t know – our power has a special name. It’s called the Sharingan.’

 _What a strange name,_ Kakashi thought. But the name would make it a lot easier to talk about it.

‘So you can see into the future with the Sharingan?’ he asked, but Itachi shook his head.

‘No, it’s not like that. It’s more like intuition. You know what comes next without being able to explain it, but it’s always right so you can rely on that feeling and act appropriately.’

That was a really useful technique. Since Kakashi always kept his eye hidden, he never experienced the real power of it.

‘May I try?’ he asked.

‘Of course.’

Kakashi unknotted his headband and stuffed it into the pockets of his trousers. Then he raised his wand and had to adjust his view for a few moments because he was not used to see the world with both of his eyes.

Itachi waited patiently until Kakashi indicated him to act, and he did immediately afterwards. But Kakashi wasn’t able to guess what his student’s attack would look like and so he got hit by it. Since it was a very weak spell, it didn’t harm him.

‘You need to practise it first,’ Itachi explained. ‘The Sharingan needs training before you can use it properly. So let’s try again.’

It felt weird to be taught by someone being Kakashi’s student outside this room, but he also had to admit that Itachi did a pretty good job and was more mature than Kakashi had been at his age. When Kakashi sank down to the ground and gasped for air because he got really tired during the training, Itachi suggested to stop for now and continue tomorrow. Kakashi was relieved about that because his stomach was demanding for food and he felt like he could sleep for days. At first he wondered why Itachi stayed by his side when they walked back to the ground-floor, but when he suddenly collapsed on the stairs and Itachi caught him before he could fall down, he knew why the younger walked next to him and was very thankful for that.

Kakashi slept like a baby this night, not only because of the exhausting training, but also because he didn’t get sleep during the night before.

The days rushed by and Kakashi always wondered where they went when he laid down on his bed in the late evening hours, not able to hold his eyes open for longer than a few seconds because he was too tired to stay awake anymore. But this tiredness was also very welcomed because his head couldn’t go into the usual directions and back to the memories Kakashi always tried to push away.

Training sessions with Itachi became less exhausting when Kakashi was able to control the Sharingan better. At first it had been hard to do what Itachi told him to do – trying to rely on his intuition to anticipate the other one’s next move and act fittingly. It wasn’t as easy as Kakashi thought because he recognised that he hadn’t listened to his intuition much in his life. Rational thoughts were more reliable to him, but now he was proven wrong because it worked pretty well in this case.

‘Well done!’ Itachi shouted when Kakashi had finally managed to anticipate Itachi’s spell and attack before the other one was able to even open his mouth. With a pleased nod, Kakashi lowered his wand.

‘I got told that Hashirama wants to see you again tomorrow,’ Itachi explained at the end of the training. ‘You could also need a break from using your Sharingan. Use the same way you visited him last time, Minato said.’

‘Thank you,’ Kakashi answered. When he grabbed his cape, he noticed that Itachi looked at him and he faced the young man. ‘Is there something else?’

‘I wanted to ask you something.’

Kakashi raised his eyebrows when Itachi went silent. ‘Go on.’

‘Are you still thinking of Obito sometimes?’ he asked calmly.

‘Why do you want to know that?’ Kakashi retorted suspiciously, ignoring the painful sting in his heart the other one’s question gave him.

Itachi shrugged. ‘I heard he was your best friend and wondered if you still think about him after all those years.’

That was a weird question because usually Itachi didn’t speak of personal things and he never asked Kakashi about anything that wasn’t related to class or their training. Why did he want to know something about Kakashi’s private life now?

‘I do,’ Kakashi said slowly, thinking about what to say. ‘You never get “over it” like some people say, you know.’

Comprehention flared up in Itachi’s eyes and he nodded. ‘I see. Thank you.’

‘See you soon then.’

Now Kakashi quickly left the room. On his way back to the ground floor he still wondered why Itachi asked him about Obito. Although he didn’t want them to, his thoughts went back to the joyful days in his fifth year at Hogwarts when had the time of his life with Obito. What would he give to relive those days … Back then he didn’t have the slightest clue that his world would be turned upside down in only the blink of an eye.

Kakashi hadn’t been with someone else since then. Although there had been two women in his Auror trainee class that made quite clear they were interested in him, he didn’t care about them at all. It was not because he wasn’t into women, he never even thought about whether he only liked men or also women. To Kakashi it never occurred that he would be anyone else’s special someone than Obito’s and he wasn’t interested in a relationship with anyone since he lost him.

Somewhere deep inside of him he still hoped that Obito would return although it was hard to admit because it was stupid to believe a dead person would come back to life out of nowhere. It was complete nonsense and childish believe. Yet Kakashi couldn’t stop himself from doing so even if he knew it was impossible.

Was it possible to still love someone who already died after so many years? If someone told that to Kakashi before he met Obito, he would’ve put them off with a disbelieving shake of his head.

But Kakashi also knew it was true that he still loved Obito – against all odds and despite every logic. After all these years, there wasn’t a day passing by on which he didn’t think about the boy with the contagious smile, the soft black hair and the most loving eyes Kakashi had ever seen.

After all these years, he still loved Obito like it was only yesterday they had kissed last.


	8. In Memoriam

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> Cae Hawksmoor | We will meet again | https://youtu.be/azN9FfjsjEY

When Kakashi took the Portkey to the Ministry of Magic the next day, Hashirama asked him how his training of the Sharingan power was going. Kakashi told him that he was making progress but it was also hard to control the power in the right way without getting exhausted. Thoughtfully nodding, Hashirama looked at him as if this was what he had expected.

‘You promised to answer me why Madara didn’t fight you back then, but protected you,’ Kakashi said after he finished telling the other one about his training.

‘Alright, alright, if you insist. But to do so I’ll show you a memory in the Pensieve, it’s a lot easier to understand it then.’

Kakashi nodded because he wanted to know so badly why Madara protected Hashirama who had been his enemy in that fight seventy years ago.

‘But don’t tell anyone about this memory in specific, okay?’

Now really curious, Kakashi asked, ‘Why?’

‘See for yourself.’

Hashirama sent Kakashi back in time after they entered the other room with the Pensieve. In this new memory he was standing in a dark bedroom at night and once again saw a younger version of Hashirama, this time sitting on the bed, staring out of the window. It was very dark in the room, only the light of the full moon enlightened Hashirama’s pale face and a part of his bed. Minutes went by without anything happening, but then Kakashi saw Hashirama raising one of his arms and opening his hand. A sparkling object was laying on the palm of his hand.

‘Madara …’ Hashirama whispered and his voice was full of pain. He started to hold the object against the window and turned it between his fingers. ‘I didn’t want this to happen … I need you so badly …’

When someone knocked on the door behind Kakashi, he winced and turned around quickly.

‘Come in, Tobirama,’ Hashirama said and young Tobirama Senju entered the dark bedroom with his wand raised in front of him to light his way.

‘Brother, is there any news on Madara?’ he asked the man on the bed who shook his head with a sigh and lowered his arm.

‘We will find him,’ Tobirama said soberly, then he lowered his look on Hashirama’s hand. ‘What’s this?’

‘Nothing,’ Hashirama replied, quickly closing his fist to hide the item.

‘How often do I have to tell you that you’re a bad liar? Come on, I can see it in your face that something’s bothering you.’

‘Yeah, my best friend is missing, so I guess that’s normal,’ Hashirama snapped, but Tobirama just grunted. And Kakashi breathed in sharply. So Hashirama and Madara had been close friends?

‘Brother, please tell me what happened between you and Madara …’

Firing a warning glance at his younger sibling, Hashirama harshly said, ‘That is none of your business, Tobirama. Go back to sleep now.’

‘No way, you idiot! I want to know why you’ve spent so much time at the Uchiha mansion in the past months. Don’t tell me best friends also spend the nights together. You were gone for nearly weeks without returning very often!’

Hashirama turned away to look out of the window again, his eyes sparkling in the bright moonlight. After a few moments, Kakashi saw tears streaming down his face while he mumbled, ‘You’ve already guessed it, Tobirama, so why do you keep asking me about it?’

Kakashi gulped. Could it really be …?

‘Because I want to know what happened,’ Tobirama replied severely. Back then he seemed already very soberly and neutral, not showing much emotions. It was obvious that Hashirama was in pain, but his brother still insisted on telling him about what happened. Maybe because of this neutral behaviour he became the Minister for Magic.

Pursing his lip, Hashirama stretched out his arm towards his brother and opened his hand. There was a ring laying in it. Tobirama breathed in sharply, then threw an unbelieving look towards his brother, coughing. ‘Don’t tell me you … you were … no, brother, please _no …’_

‘Yes, it’s exactly what you think it is.’

‘You’re a bloody idiot, Hashirama, do you know that?! The Senjus and Uchihas were never meant to be friends! Why did you … why did you also had to fall _in love_ with him –’

‘Shut your damn mouth!’ Hashirama hissed with suppressed anger in his voice, his body shaking slightly. ‘You are exactly like Dad! Can’t you see that all of these quarrels between our families are complete nonsense? None of our families is better or stronger than the other one, we’re _equal!’_

‘No, you’re the one who’s not getting it, brother. The Uchiha family always thought they were better than us. Magic, power, influence – they harmed us too often without reason.’

‘Just because our ancestors didn’t question their own actions! A single stupid fight between two equally strong men … and all generations after them are affected by their stupidity! This is not how it should be. All of this has to stop. That was what Madara and I tried to achieve.’

 _‘By falling in love?!’_ Tobirama yelled but lowered his voice immediately because it was in the middle of the night and everyone in the house was sleeping. ‘You’re both idiots.’

‘You think I fell in love with him by choice? Well, if that’s what you believe then you clearly never experienced love before, Tobirama.’

Kakashi still couldn’t believe what he was witnessing here. Hashirama and Madara had been lovers. That was some additional news making everything even more complicated. He wondered if Hashirama still cared for Madara after almost seventy years went by since the day they had seen each other last.

‘I believe in what I can see, brother, and a healthy relationship between the Senju and Uchiha families is not one of these things.’

‘Screw yourself and leave me alone,’ Hashirama demanded and let himself sink down on the bed, facing the wall. Tobirama just sighed and walked back towards the door. Before he closed it behind him, he mumbled, ‘I hope losing Madara taught you a lesson, brother.’ Then he left the crying Hashirama alone and Kakashi couldn’t get rid of the lump in his throat. So Hashirama had lost the man who owned his heart, too. Furthermore, he had to realise that after he found out Madara was still alive he had become the evillest wizard in the history of the magical world. How was that affecting Hashirama?

The familiar pulling-back overwhelmed Kakashi and the world around him blurred once more, then he raised his head from the Pensieve and took a deep breath. Hashirama wasn’t in the room with him anymore. Kakashi found him in his office, staring out of the window.

‘Hashirama … thank you for showing me this very personal memory. I think I understand everything better now.’

‘He was the love of my life.’ Not reacting to what Kakashi said, Hashirama turned around to face his visitor, his face full of emotions. ‘I thought we could make it right. End the fights between our families. But I was wrong. And because of my foolishness we have to deal with the consequences now that already cost too many lives.’

Kakashi sympathised with the elder wizard a lot, especially since he knew that they shared a similar past experience – losing their lover, even if Hashirama did lose his in another way than Kakashi did. The only thing he hoped for was that Hashirama would not have to fight against Madara as his enemy. Fighting someone you once loved was the most cruel thing Kakashi could think of. No one should ever have to experience that.

‘It’s not your fault that Madara turned mad.’

‘It is my fault. I could’ve saved him from the hole he fell into. But because I didn’t realise what was going on while I was moaning over him back then, I completely failed protecting what I had aimed for.’

Now more energetic, Kakashi stepped towards him and laid a hand on his shoulder to make the elder one face him. Then he took a deep breath and said, ‘I lost the love of my life, too, and I spent a lot of time just laying around, crying my heart out and not trying to break down completely, asking myself if I could not have prevented him from dying.’

Saying this to someone was hard for Kakashi since he did not speak to many people about Obito after the accident. But in this moment, it felt right. Hashirama seemed to be a little more relieved now and thankfully nodded towards Kakashi.

‘Thank you. It means a lot. But let’s finally talk about the reason why you’re here today. I wanted to ask you if you feel ready to go on your first mission as a member of Konoha.’

Since when was Kakashi an official member? He didn’t remember that he agreed to this at any point. ‘What are you talking about?’ was what he asked because of that.

‘You remember the memory I’ve shown you where I recruited the Bijuu of the Uzumaki family to help me protect something?’

Of course Kakashi did, so he nodded.

‘I have given every Bijuu a special item they should hide and protect. And Madara wants those items back for a reason I can’t tell you right now. But Konoha needs to get back those items as fast as possible because Madara found a way to track down the Bijuus.’

‘And you want me to find them before Akatsuki does?’ Kakashi concluded.

With a mild smile, Hashirama nodded, then he opened a drawer of his desk and took out a long item wrapped up in some fabric.

‘This is something that belongs to you,’ Hashirama explained and gently pushed the item towards Kakashi’s side of the desk who raised his eyebrows in surprise. But Hashirama remained silent, just indicating him to take the item so Kakashi did. And when he realised what he was holding in his hands after taking the fabric away, he gasped.

‘Where did you get this?’ he asked harshly, barely able to control his emotions right now.

‘One of my Aurors took it on their way out on that day.’

With his hands shaking, Kakashi raised the wand in his hand and slowly turned it between his fingers, but there was no doubt. This was the wand of his father.

‘Why … why are you giving this to me?’ he asked, his voice almost breaking as he embraced the wooden wand tighter.

‘Your father was a very powerful wizard,’ Hashirama said with appreciation. ‘And he was also a member of Konoha.’

Inhaling sharply, Kakashi couldn’t believe what he just heard. His father – a member of Konoha? Why didn’t he know of this?

‘Sakumo Hatake was one of our boldest members and we were all in shock when we got the news,’ Hashirama continued. ‘Did you ever hear the story of what really happened in the night Obito’s parents died?’

‘No,’ Kakashi just breathed, his voice nothing more than a hoarsely croak. Faster and faster the thoughts in Kakashi’s heard swirled around, mixed with all kinds of emotions. What did Obito’s parents have to do with his father?

‘You need to know the truth,’ Hashirama said, his eyes full of sympathy for Kakashi’s emotional situation. ‘I am sorry if hearing that will hurt you now, but it’s important for you to know. To protect the Uchiha family and their new-born son Obito, I casted the _Fidelius_ charm on the Uchihas and their home to hide them from Akatsuki. To make sure they were protected best, I made one of my most loyal Aurors their Secret-Keeper – and that was your father. Only Sakumo Hatake and I did know where the Uchihas hid. Unfortunately, the night Yuki Uchiha and his wife Akeno died was the night your father was tricked by a member of Akatsuki. He didn’t know he wasn’t talking to the real Yuki Uchiha, but to someone who had disguised as him with the help of Polyjuice Potion. How he was able to become Yuki was never solved because the potion needs at least a single hair of the person you want to transform into. But yet that Akatsuki member did and Sakumo was wondering why Yuki was outside. Your father never told me what they talked about exactly, but he must’ve named their hidden place at some point so Akatsuki got the information and was able to attack in the following night.’

Kakashi never knew about the real reason his father had killed himself. No one wanted to tell him when he was a kid and when he grew up, there was no one he knew who could possibly know the real story. Hearing it now hurt Kakashi deeply, but it also relieved him because he finally got to know the truth.

‘Why did you make my father the Secret-Keeper?’ Kakashi asked quietly when Hashirama didn’t continue talking.

‘Sakumo Hatake and Yuki Uchiha were best friends.’

With a painful beat, Kakashi’s heart started to race. His dad had been friends with Obito’s father? He never knew about that, of course not, but it tasted bittersweet because the children of those two men became best friends, too – and even more.

‘Yuki wanted him to be the Secret-Keeper because he was the only person in the world besides his wife he trusted with his life. And when Sakumo failed protecting him, he couldn’t live with that burden and killed himself.’

The pain had reached a nearly unbearable scale now and Kakashi didn’t know what to think anymore. He couldn’t even focus on what Hashirama said to him after that. His body felt just completely numb and empty right now and he was about to break down any moment.

Sakumo Hatake and Yuki Uchiha. They had been friends. And his father couldn’t live without his friend, knowing he was the reason for his death.

_Obito …_

When Kakashi opened his eyes full of tears, he directly looked into Hashirama’s worried face.

‘You suddenly went silent and I thought you’d faint any second by the paleness in your face. Do you want anything? Tea? Chocolate?’

Hashirama’s kindness warmed Kakashi’s heart, but he wasn’t able to answer him. The pain in his heart numbed his whole body. All he wanted to do now was curl up under his blanket and shut out the world. But he couldn’t do that because he was called here for a reason. So he pulled all of his strength together to lift his head and face Hashirama.

‘I am truly sorry about telling you this all of a sudden, but it was important that you know the truth. I have given you your father’s wand for a reason. Once Sakumo and I had a talk about our children and I remember him saying that he wanted to have you “something to remember him by”. For a wizard, there is nothing more personal to give to anyone than their own wand. Because it contains a lot of the power of its owner and also their feelings. Maybe this wand will give you a piece of your father back. And it’s important to have something with you that gives you strength on the task I will tell you about now.’

Kakashi could feel the rising tension in the air as if something very important was going to happen. And then he heard the door behind him being opened. Minato and Rin entered the room while Kakashi watched them in surprise.

‘What are you two doing here?’ he asked them breathlessly. Rin just smiled and Minato nodded as a greeting, but didn’t say anything either. Hashirama let two additional chairs appear out of nowhere with a spell and they sat down.

‘I have a mission for the three of you. It’s time we collect the items the Bijuu were send out to protect. Madara found a way to track them down and we cannot let those items fall into his hands at all cost. Mr Hatake, do you feel prepared to use your Sharingan in a fight?’

What kind of question was that? Of course he wasn’t ready. The new power was still hard to control and he didn’t know all about it by now. But if there was no time to continue training it, then Kakashi was fine with that. In his Auror training he had learned to do what he was told even if he didn’t feel ready to do that.

‘Yes,’ was what Kakashi answered then and straightened his back. Rin softly touched his hand and he was thankful for that. Of course she knew he wasn’t ready; he had talked to her about his training lately and also that it was hard to control the Sharingan.

‘Mrs Nohara, you’re as new to all of this as Mr Hatake is, so thank you very much for helping us out. Minato told me about your great skills with potions, especially healing potions, and also medical treatment. That will be very useful for Konoha. Did Minato tell you about the mission and its reasons already?’

Rin nodded. ‘Yes, Mr Senju, thank you a lot. I don’t understand everything by now, but enough to know how important this is and I promise that I will do everything in my power to help.’

With a gentle smile, Hashirama looked at her and nodded. ‘Well then, we have no time to spare. I’ll tell you about the whereabouts of the Bijuu we found out Madara wants to track down soon. We need to make sure that you’ll get there first. The item you’re looking for first is a little glass container that the Bijuu Isobu is taking care of. You’ll take a Port Key from this office to the place Isobu is hiding. Grab all the things you’ll need for the task and meet me here again in two hours.’

When Kakashi and Rin headed towards the staircase at the end of the corridor Minato’s office was located in, he asked why she didn’t tell him that she knew about all of this already.

‘Because I didn’t,’ she simply replied. ‘Minato gave me a quick overview over the most important things when he heard that I should go with you two – which was this morning.’

Surprised, Kakashi raised an eyebrow. ‘And you’re not … confused? Or overwhelmed?’

‘I am. But Hashirama and Minato know what they do, I am sure of that. So I’ll just wait until I get more information and do what I’m supposed to do.’

Once again, Kakashi felt like an idiot who wasn’t in control of his life and actions. Rin was so much more mature than him, she always had been. But before Kakashi could continue thinking of his failures, he felt his hand grabbed.

‘Stop worrying so much!’ his best friend laughed and stopped for a moment. ‘We’ll succeed and bring the item back before Madara can take it. And then you and me will have a date by the lake with lots of sweets and talk. Does that sound good?’

It did indeed and Kakashi felt the weight on his heart decreasing a bit. ‘But what about Tokara? Your husband surely won’t approve of our date.’

Amused, Rin grinned widely and said, ‘Well, what he doesn’t know won’t hurt him, right?’

Then their ways parted and each of them headed towards their personal quarters to prepare for their task.

* * *

_(Unknown)_

_‘Are you ready to go?’_

_The blond guy with the annoying grin appeared on his doorstep and he sighed annoyed. Of course he wasn’t, but that didn’t matter right now. They needed to fulfil their task._

_‘Let’s go,’ he said to the younger blond man, grabbed his wand from the table and left the room._


	9. The Unexpected Task

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> MoGiLop Music | Best Music To Listen To While Reading! #2 | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=as-RN5eNk1A

Back in Hashirama’s office, he wished Kakashi, Rin and Minato good luck for their task before they touched the book that had been turned into a Portkey. Only a few seconds later, they found themselves on top of a cliff, only a few metres away from the abyss that plunged into the waves splashing against some rugged rocks in front of the slope.

‘Where are we?’ Rin asked, stroking away the strands of her hair the strong wind whirled around her head.

‘It doesn’t matter,’ Minato said. ‘We have to find the Bijuu’s location as fast as possible. Come on, there’s no time to lose.’

With a few firm steps, Minato went to the edge of the cliff and cautiously looked down. Then he disapparated and Kakashi watched him appearing on one of the rocks further down, surrounded by roaring waves. Only a few seconds afterwards he was back to where his companions were standing and said, ‘There is a big fissure in the cliff. Maybe it leads into a cave. Let’s check it out.’

They all apparated down directly onto the rock next to the fissure. Minato was right – it was the entry to a bigger cave, three times as big as the Great Hall and with a rising rocky ground inside that led nearly to the cave’s ceiling. As the group approached, Kakashi spotted something further up in the cave that was familiar. It was a similar basin to the one in the Chamber of Shinobi which contained the ring Naruto had pulled out.

‘I bet the item we are looking for is inside,’ he told the others. ‘But where is its protector?’

‘I don’t know,’ Rin whispered, ‘but I’m having a bad feeling about this.’

Kakashi was about to ask what she meant by that, but he did not have to. Right before them on the elevation, someone stepped out of the shadows.

‘You don’t have to worry about the Bijuu,’ the person said and started to laugh. It was a blond man with an insane hairstyle that seemed to defy every law of gravity. He was wearing a dark cape with red decorations, but he was too far away to tell what shape they had. ‘Let’s say I already took care of him.’

‘Give him and the item to us!’ Rin shouted and pulled out her wand, but Minato stepped ahead and raised an arm to hold her back.

‘Who are you?’ he asked soberly, but cautious, with a suspicious undertone.

‘My name is none of your business. I’m here to take back what belongs to my Master.’

There was no doubt anymore that this was one of Akatsuki’s members.

‘Give us what does not belong to you,’ Minato demanded, slowly letting his hand slide under his cape to take his wand out. ‘There’s no chance you can fight us on your own, so be reasonable and give the Bijuu to us.’

The other one just laughed and it resounded from the cave’s walls. ‘Who do you think you are you to give me orders, eh?’

‘You’re a fool to challenge us alone,’ Rin retorted loudly, ready to attack.

 _‘You_ are the fools here.’

The cold and harsh voice made Kakashi shiver and he turned around in surprise to see who else had appeared now besides the blond guy with the weird hairstyle. It was a man in the same cape as the other one, but Kakashi wasn’t able to see his face because he had an orange mask on in the shape of an oval swirl and with a single hole in it to look through. When the other one quickly looked around to check on his opponents, his hands clenched to fists when he looked at Kakashi. It also seemed like he lost balance for a second. And in this moment, Kakashi felt something strange he couldn’t pin down.

Before Kakashi could think about that any longer, the man with the mask pulled out his wand and fired a spell in their direction.

Minato had told him to wait for the right moment to use his Sharingan to not unnecessarily let the others know about it, but when was that moment? It would spare them a lot of time if Kakashi knew what their opponents were about to do. So he quickly pulled off his headband and focused on the man with the mask. He reacted only a second later and also faced Kakashi – and then something strange happened: Kakashi’s gifted eye suddenly started to pulsate and Kakashi felt a kind of pull towards the other man for a moment, but then everything was back to normal like nothing happened at all. Except for the fact that something through the hole in the mask of the Akatsuki member was glowing red. Could it be …? No, that was not possible. It surely was some kind of trick to distract Kakashi.

But why did Obito’s eye pulsate then all of a sudden? Itachi told him that the eye might react when fighting another wizard with this power.

So … was this guy also having a Sharingan? But who was he? And why was he wearing that mask?

The irony in his second thought would’ve made Kakashi laugh if he didn’t have to elude the spell that was fired at him. With a quick turn he moved to the right and fired back, noticing that Rin and Minato had also started fighting. They attacked the blond guy together who seemed to like using exploding spells because Kakashi’s teammates were bombarded with little explosions all around them. But they would manage this situation well, Kakashi was sure of that, so he concentrated on his own fight. In the moment Kakashi wanted to fire another spell, his opponent suddenly vanished. Ready to move quickly, Kakashi started to spin around, but then he suddenly felt a gloved hand on his throat and a pull-back. The other one must have apparated behind Kakashi who didn’t see that coming. To be honest, he didn’t manage to find out a single move of his opponent with his Sharingan, but he wasn’t sure why.

‘You’re slow,’ the masked man mumbled into his ear and pulled Kakashi closer to him, suffocating him ruggedly so Kakashi had to cough. ‘Prove me you’re better than this.’

Then Kakashi was suddenly free again and bended over for a second to catch some air before he looked to where the man had apparated to. He was now standing deeper inside the cave on a rock next to the stone basin that hopefully still contained the Bijuu’s protected item. Angrily gritting his teeth, Kakashi ported himself next to his opponent to stop him from taking the item, trying to suppress the urge of thinking about what the other one just said to him.

‘I really thought you’d be better!’ the Akatsuki member shouted and started to laugh while he attacked Kakashi again, but luckily he stepped a few feet back from the basin. That was Kakashi’s chance!

Although he had no idea who this guy was, Kakashi decided to join his game and yelled, ‘And you’re even more stupid than I thought you’d be!’ While he was still speaking he already turned around and quickly reached into the basin after silently casting the _Revelio_ spell. A stinging pain flashed through his hand but he continued and pulled out the little item he had managed to grab.

‘No!’ the masked guy shouted angrily and quickly approached, but Kakashi yelled, _‘Confringo!’_ and blocked the other one’s sight with the uprising dust from the explosion. Already feeling triumphant, Kakashi turned around to port himself to his companions, but then he was directly staring into the hole of the orange swirled mask and the glowing red eye. No, this was no trick – this guy definitely was an Uchiha! Realising that, Kakashi knew why he hadn’t been able to foresee his actions.

‘You definitely need to train that power a lot more, Kakashi,’ mask guy said, grabbed the glass container out of Kakashi’s hand and disapparated. Suddenly the blond guy was gone, too, and the Konoha members lowered their wands.

‘Damn!’ Minato shouted. ‘They got the item!’

Contritely, Kakashi said, ‘I am sorry, Minato. This is my fault.’

‘It’s not!’ Rin insisted.

‘She is right,’ Minato said, but he looked very disappointed.

‘Hashirama won’t be happy about this,’ Kakashi mumbled because he knew that he had screwed up. But what got him even more terrified than losing the item was that the masked guy knew his name.

Back in Hogwarts, Kakashi was still angry with himself when he headed towards a place he hadn’t been to in a while. The wind was cold when he stepped outside on the stone-tiled platform he had used many years ago as his personal spot to sort his thoughts and calm himself down.

Nearly immediately after he reached the edge of it, he looked up to a certain place he had also been to a lot of times after he discovered it and got to know a boy better who he slowly fell in love with. Being reminded of that now caused pain in Kakashi’s heart again he was already used to, but it still hurt like hell.

If Obito was still alive, maybe he would’ve fought at his side today to save the Bijuu and the item from Akatsuk. And maybe Kakashi wouldn’t have failed because he knew that Obito had his back …

But that was just stupid and Kakashi shook his head vigorously to get rid of that thought. He had Minato and Rin with him and they were really good fighters. Imagining Obito giving him strength if he would have been with Kakashi was just a low excuse for his failure today.

In their next training session, Kakashi told Itachi about how their search for the Bijuu went. Itachi listened, then said, ‘It’s not surprising you lost against that guy with the mask.’

Subsequently, Kakashi raised his eyebrows. ‘Why? Do you know him?’

‘Didn’t Minato tell you that I am a spy?’ Itachi asked soberly, like this wasn’t anything unusual.

No, he didn’t, so this was news for Kakashi and he just shook his head.

‘I managed to gain Madara’s attention by letting him know that there is an Uchiha in Hogwarts,’ his student explained. ‘But that was all part of a plan Hashirama had come up with a few years ago.’

‘And you’re spying on Akatsuki to report to Hashirama?’ Kakashi guessed, really surprised and also impressed by what Itachi was doing. That surely was a hard job to do, especially at such a young age.

‘Exactly,’ Itachi nodded. ‘But to make sure Madara trusted me, I had to promise him to spy on Konoha’s activities for him.’

‘So … you’re a fake double-agent?’ Kakashi plainly asked.

But Itachi shook his head. ‘I wouldn’t call it fake. I do tell Akatsuki about Konoha’s activities, but only the ones Minato and Hashirama think are safe to tell. And because of this task I know the guy you fought with since I always need to report to him. His name is Tobi.’

Finally, Kakashi’s opponent had a name.

‘He surely is an Uchiha because he has the Sharingan,’ Kakashi explained.

‘You do have the Sharingan, too, and you’re not an Uchiha,’ Itachi said plainly. And he was right. Kakashi hadn’t thought about this possibility yet. But who would give away his power to someone else if not forced like when Obito gave his to Kakashi before he died?

‘You think he’s not an Uchiha then? Have you ever seen him without his mask?’

Itachi shook his head. ‘No, I haven’t. But this guy is a tough one to fight. He’s Madara’s right arm.’

Inhaling sharply, Kakashi remembered how swift and certain the masked man moved during their fight. No wonder he was such a good fighter when he was that close to Madara whose powers Kakashi couldn’t even imagine by now.

‘Does Tobi have any weakness you know of? I need to be ready to battle him again on our search for the Bijuus.’

‘He doesn’t tell me anything and I never had the chance to fight with him, so no,’ Itachi apologised. ‘I just need to report to him about Konoha’s activities.’

Being a secret spy surely wasn’t easy and Kakashi couldn’t imagine how fatal one false word could become. ‘What do you tell Akatsuki about us, exactly?’

Itachi raised an eyebrow but still answered. ‘I always talk to Minato first before I report to Tobi for the next time. We discuss on what information I will give to Akatsuki. Sometimes it’s nothing useful, but I need to tell them something that helps them from now and then because otherwise they would become suspicious.’

‘Not an easy job,’ Kakashi concluded. Itachi just looked at him with his usual illegible face expression, then suggested to continue training.

‘What exactly are those items we are looking for?’ Kakashi asked when he sat with Rin in Minato’s office on the next day to discuss on what to do next.

‘I’m sorry, but this is a top secret information and as long as Hashirama doesn’t give me the permission to talk about that topic, I just can’t,’ Minato said with concern in his voice, sounding truly sorry. So these items had to be really important to Hashirama. But it didn’t dawn on Kakashi yet what kind of items had such power that they were needed to defeat somebody. Maybe they were necessary to cast a spell? But what kind of spell required items like a ring or a glass container?

When Kakashi turned his head to his right to see what Rin was thinking about it, her face was pale-white and she looked like she was going to faint.

‘Rin? Are you okay?’ Minato asked in the same second Kakashi wanted to open his mouth, but she did not answer, instead jumped to her feet and dashed out of the office.

‘Can you check on her?’ Minato asked worried, and Kakashi nodded, already halfway on his feet. Then he went after Rin.

In the next restroom he found her bent over a sink. Her hair was hanging down so he couldn’t see her face, but she coughed.

‘Rin, what’s wrong?’ Kakashi asked and stepped closer.

‘N-Nothing,’ Rin croaked, then raised her upper body and smiled at Kakashi, but her lips were trembling.

‘Tell me,’ Kakashi whispered. ‘Please let me help you.’

His friend just shook her head and wanted to pass him by to leave the restroom, but Kakashi grabbed her wrist so she had to turn around again.

‘Rin,’ he said severely and with a demanding voice, ‘I can tell by the look on your face that you’re not fine. So please tell me what’s the matter.’

For a few seconds, she just looked at him like she was deciding on whether to tell him or not, but then she just smiled and said, ‘Can we meet down by the lake this evening? I’ll tell you everything then.’

Surprised by that invitation, Kakashi let go of the woman in front of him and just nodded. What else could he do?

‘See you later then,’ Rin said and waved him good-bye.

‘You won’t go back to our meeting with Minato?’

‘No, I’m sorry, but I need some rest.’ Then she just disappeared and left Kakashi back with concern and also curiosity. But he decided to go back to the headmaster’s office and tell him about Rin’s not well-being. Minato nodded, understanding that Rin needed some rest, and said they would meet tomorrow then. Kakashi went to his rooms afterwards to prepare his lessons for the next day, but he couldn’t concentrate on it. Instead, his thoughts went back to Rin and he hoped it wasn’t something serious she was suffering from, but usually Rin quickly told him about what bothered her. Racking his brain now over it would not lead him anywhere so he decided to focus on his paperwork again until it was time to head to the lake.

When Kakashi met Rin down there sitting on a blanket, she smiled, but her eyes were full of worries.

‘So what’s the matter?’ Kakashi directly jumped to business while he sat down and looked at Rin with concern. The woman next to him just smiled, but remained silent and looked away then as if she needed to think about what to say first.

‘I have to tell you something,’ Rin said a few moments afterwards, her voice lowered like this was something not everyone should hear although there was no one around them. Kakashi raised his eyebrows.

‘Go on then whenever you feel ready to,’ he said with a soft voice and laid down a hand on Rin’s. She nodded thankfully.

‘I discovered something lately that I didn’t dare to share with anyone yet. I went to the library a while ago and found a book someone obviously had forgotten to put back into the shelf. I grabbed it to do so when I read the title and got curious. There was a strange energy floating from it I couldn’t explain. And when I opened it, I was pretty sure that this was not a book from the library.’ Rin stopped to look around suspiciously, then she mumbled, ‘The book was called “Magick Moste Evile”.’

Kakashi’s heart started to beat faster. ‘Did you open it?’

With a quick nod, Rin continued, ‘Yes. And I read about something cruel in there.’ She gulped, then mumbled, ‘have you ever heard of Horcruxes?’

The word itself did sound very strange. Kakashi shook his head. ‘No, I haven’t.’

‘I haven’t heard about it either so I continued reading. And … oh Kakashi … it’s horrible.’ Rin’s voice was shaky when she faced Kakashi directly. Then she continued, ‘A Horcrux is a magical object that is created when a wizard or witch binds a piece of their soul to an item. It’s used to make yourself immortal because you cannot fully die if your soul is still holding on to something in this world.’

While Rin was talking, a queasy feeling was spreading out in Kakashi’s stomach. Why did something like that even exist? And why did someone leave a book about that in the library of a school?

‘How do you create them?’ Kakashi asked, but already could tell by the look on his best friend’s face that he had hit the spot.

‘By killing someone,’ Rin whispered, her voice sounding croaky like it was about to break any second. And the terrified look on her face told him that this wasn’t the worst part yet.

‘Why are you telling me this, Rin?’ he asked quietly.

Compassion flared up in her eyes before she answered, ‘You told me about the stings in your eye a while ago, remember?’

Of course he remembered that. But what did his eye have to do with –

The fright overwhelmed Kakashi within a heartbeat when he realised what Rin was trying to indicate.

‘You … you think that …’

‘Yeah.’ She nodded. ‘I think there might be a connection. You told me about the stings in your eyes whenever something bad happens … Someone left a book in the library that does not belong in the hands of young wizards … It’s about magical objects to make someone immortal, which most likely needs a lot of magical power …’

‘And us looking for objects the Bijuus had to hide,’ Kakashi continued slowly. ‘Rin, do you know what you’re even trying to say?’

‘I do. And I don’t like it either, but it does make sense, don’t you think?’

Indeed, it did. More than Kakashi wanted to admit. But Rin was right. Still none of them said out loud what both of them were thinking.

‘Oh Merlin,’ Rin whispered at some point, coughing. ‘Kakashi. Do you think what I think that all means?’

‘Yeah,’ Kakashi said and paused. It was too horrible to even think of it, but there was no way to go back. They had to face the truth. So Kakashi just mumbled, ‘Madara Uchiha created Horcruxes to make himself immortal.’

After he got back to his bedroom, Kakashi sank down onto the sheets and buried his head in the pillow. The thoughts in his head were swirling around and he already had a headache from the talk with Rin earlier.

That Kakashi’s gifted eye reacted to the eye of Tobi meant Kakashi was connected with the Uchihas in some way. But why didn’t his eye react to Itachi then? Something about this theory was wrong. Maybe he should ask Itachi about it or why his eye might have reacted to the Akatsuki guy.

And the Horcruxes. Damn, the situation was even worse than Kakashi imagined. Why did neither Minato or Hashirama mention this important detail? It was essential to know about this! But was it wise to let them know that Rin and he knew about this, too? Kakashi wasn’t sure and decided to tell Rin tomorrow that they should stay silent about this for now.

At some point he must have fallen asleep because when he opened his eyes again, the sun was already rising. Kakashi took a shower, packed his stuff for the day and headed towards the Great Hall to get some breakfast when he bumped into the headmaster.

‘Good morning. Did something happen yesterday?’ Minato sounded concerned, but Kakashi just shook his head.

‘Rin wasn’t feeling so well and I was pretty tired, too. Sorry we didn’t tell you.’

‘It’s fine. I’m glad you are okay. Oh, before I forget about it – we’ll go on another mission this evening. Please meet me in my office at six o’clock.’

Kakashi nodded, then left. He had to talk to Rin as soon as possible. But he didn’t meet her at breakfast and also not at lunch. When he asked Gai about her whereabouts, he just shrugged and said he hadn’t seen her either. And she wasn’t in her office when Kakashi went there after the school day had ended.

He met Minato as previously arranged and was now really worried that Rin wasn’t there either.

‘Have you seen Rin today?’ he asked the headmaster after she hadn’t shown up after ten minutes.

‘No. I was going to ask you the same thing,’ Minato replied apologetically. ‘I had to reschedule all of her classes. But we have no time to waste. We will go without her.’

‘Don’t we need her? We’re looking for the … the items again, right?’ Just in the right moment he had interrupted himself because he wanted to say ‘Horcruxes’. But Minato didn’t seem to have noticed.

‘Yes, we need to find another Bijuu and its protected item. I can’t do anything about the fact that Rin isn’t here right now, so it’s just you and me. Are you fine with that? We will search for her after we’ve returned.’

But before they were able to touch the Portkey, a loud yell sounded through the corridor the office was located in. Both Kakashi and Minato didn’t hesitate for a second and bolted out of the room. At the end of the corridor Hinata Hyuuga was crouching on the floor. Kakashi noticed that her body was trembling and she was coughing as soon as the two men got closer.

‘What’s wrong, Miss Hyuuga? Tell us!’ Minato’s voice was full of concern.

Hinata’s eyes were widened in fear when she looked at Kakashi. An uneasy feeling started to spread in his stomach when he realised that something terrible must have happened.

‘Professor … Professor Hatake …’ Her voice was not much more than just a whisper. To calm her down, Kakashi laid a hand on her shoulder.

‘What is it, Miss Hyuuga?’ he asked quietly, trying not to show the uprising uneasiness that was taking over his body. The girl gulped, then directly faced Kakashi.

‘He said I should take you to him immediately.’

Fear crawled up Kakashi’s veins, but he suppressed it at all cost. He desperately hoped Hinata wasn’t talking about the one wizard he was thinking of right now. ‘Who?’ he slowly asked.

‘Please come with me,’ she requested.

‘Kakashi, this is serious,’ Minato intervened. ‘We need to –’

‘I will come with you.’

The headmaster ruggedly grabbed his shoulder. ‘Are you mad? No!’

But Kakashi shook his hand off and demanded Hinata to lead the way. Although he did not know who was expecting him, he needed to make sure everyone in the castle was safe from them. And the easiest way to do that was to go straight to where they were waiting for him.

‘You’re an idiot!’ Minato ranted, but followed them closely as they made their way down to the Great Hall. Commotions expected them as they left the staircase. Students were standing around in groups, chatting with fearful voices. A girl Kakashi passed by looked like she was about to start crying every second, but he was pushed forward by Minato and slowly made his way towards the doors of the hall.

And when he entered it, it felt like time froze for a second.

At the end of the aisle between the benches where the teachers were sitting on an enhanced floor, a man was standing. Kakashi had already seen him before. His body was covered in a black cape with red ornaments. The short black hair on his head was messy, but his face was hidden behind an orange mask.

It was Tobi, Madara’s right arm.


	10. The Silver Wolf

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Feel free to listen to this piece of music while reading:  
> Patrick Bennett | The Departure (Extended) | https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DmQmepDPg6I

‘Welcome, Kakashi,’ Tobi said loudly and his voice sounded ominously through the empty hall. All of the students were waiting outside the door that shut behind Kakashi after he entered. He was glad no one was in danger right now, but still he was cautious when he walked towards the Akatsuki member. How in Merlin’s sake did he even get inside the castle?! It was protected by a lot of strong spells casted by Minato and other powerful wizards.

Kakashi pushed the thought aside because it didn’t matter how Tobi got in. The teacher focused on what he had to do. Realising that Minato wasn’t following him into the hall, he was relieved. Surely he was taking care of the situation with the students. The most important thing was to keep them safe, but Kakashi assumed that Tobi wasn’t here to hurt the students. Otherwise he would not have called for Kakashi and wait until he was there. If Tobi was here to hurt the residents of the castle, he could have already done it by now, most likely with success. If he managed got inside the castle unseen this time, maybe he had done it before without anyone noticing, too.

Gritting his teeth because of Tobi’s smartness, Kakashi asked, ‘What do you want from me?’ He stopped walking in appropriate distance and eyed every of Tobi’s movements closely.

Tobi waved towards him. ‘Let’s chat a bit, shall we? Come closer.’

But Kakashi did not give in. ‘You will come here if you want to talk to me.’

‘You definitely learned how to make a stand. That’s an improvement.’

What was Tobi talking about? Was he referring to their first encounter? Confused, Kakashi raised his eyebrows, and Tobi started to laugh.

‘Well, I see. You have no idea who I am. Good.’

‘I don’t care about who you are. Tell me why you’re here and what you want from me.’

‘I want nothing from you but the one thing that’s not yours.’

For a moment, Kakashi had to think about what he could mean by that. But the sting in his heart made him realise that he already knew it.

‘Why do you want it?’

‘Can you stop asking stupid questions? It really annoys me,’ Tobi complained.

Kakashi still remained where he was, but clutched the fingers around his wand already to be ready to fight when he needed to do so.

‘If you don’t give it to me freely, I will take it from you. You have the choice.’

With a big jump, Tobi landed on the tiles of the hall and started to walk airily towards Kakashi, like this was some kind of game for him. Damn, if this was leading to a fight, Kakashi had to make sure no one else would get involved. Kakashi wasn’t sure what Tobi was really up to so he had to tell Minato to evacuate the castle immediately. Since Tobi was still a few steps away and did not look like he was going to attack, Kakashi pulled out his wand quickly and casted a spell he hadn’t used in ages. But it was a great way to communicate in a situation he was not able to reach another person. A glowing white light escaped the tip of his wand as he turned around and shot it towards the doors. The gigantic tiger dashed away and Kakashi faced Tobi again. But to his horror, Tobi had already casted a spell, too. And so Kakashi watched another glowing animal running through the hall, chasing his own.

When Kakashi first studied the charm, he read that sometimes a Patronus would take the form of an animal that symbolised something important in the owner’s life, like a trait of their personality or a deep emotion. In Kakashi’s case, his father had been able to transform himself into a tiger, so his son hadn’t been surprised when he discovered his protector’s form. Seeing Tobi’s Patronus now made him wonder why it was a wolf although he knew this wasn’t the time to think about such things. But Kakashi wasn’t able to do anything about the fact that the wolf outran his Patronus and took him down. He didn’t know Patroni were able to do that, but they fought for a second or two before they exploded into a thousand pieces of glowing particles.

‘Evacuate the hallway!’ Kakashi shouted over his shoulder, hoping that Minato would hear him through the closed doors, then immediately fired a spell towards Tobi, but the other one just laughed and eluded.

‘You’re a coward!’ he yelled, then casted a spell himself. ‘Fight me like a real man, not like a weak child! I know that you can!’

‘You don’t know anything about me!’ Kakashi’s voice was trembling, but he tried not to let himself be teased by Tobi. Why did he even let himself be verbally attacked by that man? This was useless! And Kakashi usually didn’t get upset that easily by some else’s words. Why now?

Before Kakashi was able to fire another spell, he was pushed down to the ground. Tobi had appeared out of nowhere behind him. Since it wasn’t possible to apparate inside Hogwarts, Kakashi didn’t bother about covering his back. And he still wondered how Tobi did it when he hit the stone tiles and the air was pressed out of his lungs from the hard thud.

For one moment, nothing but the breathing of the two men was audible. Tobi was sitting on Kakashi’s hips, weighing him down, and also pinning down his arms with a tight clutch around his wrists. Although Kakashi was only able to see one of Tobi’s eyes, he noticed that his opponent quickly glanced next to Kakashi’s head where he was holding down one of Kakashi’s hands.

‘You’re … still wearing it …’

Confused, Kakashi raised his eyebrows and dared to quickly glance to where Tobi was looking. The bracelet was visible from underneath his cape. And now he was even more confused. How did Tobi know what this was? Why did this man know so many things about him? They did not know each other. Or … did they?

There was only one way to find out.

Kakashi took the moment of distraction to act. Without further hesitation, he transformed himself into his Animagus form, a silver wolf. Being more powerful now, he easily freed himself from Tobi’s clutch and raised a paw. Tobi backed off a little. He raised his wand and casted another Patronus. It wasn’t useful to attack since it had no physical form so Kakashi wondered why he casted that spell now. But when the Patronus hit him from above, he noticed something he had never seen before: Tobi’s Patronus was … changing! Kakashi looked into the glowing eyes of the white wolf above him and saw that around the right eye something was appearing in only a heartbeat. A darker vertical line was now on the wolf’s face, divided by the eye that had fixed its gaze on Kakashi. It looked very familiar.

No.

This wasn’t possible …

The glowing creature crashed into Kakashi, but he felt nothing but warmth floating through his body when it disappeared.

Kakashi pulled all of his strength together and rose up from the ground. He growled and jumped at Tobi who wasn’t able to resist the wolf’s weight and fell down. Now was Kakashi’s chance! He could not waste it. With a quick movement, Kakashi raised one of his front paws and deeply scratched over Tobi’s mask. His claws easily slid through the wooden mask and when they left it, it broke apart.

In the moment Kakashi was able to see the other one’s face, the world around him completely froze. His body felt numb and powerless when the eye he got gifted so many years ago was suddenly starting to pulsate frantically, but Kakashi ignored the pain it was causing. He was only focusing on the man that was laying beneath him, facing him directly with a look Kakashi wasn’t able to even interpret.

His body urged to transform back and he suddenly didn’t have any more magical power left to maintain his animal form although he did not use it that much. As soon as his bones had moved back into their normal position, Kakashi sank down to the ground, coughing and feeling like he was going to fall through the cold tiles directly into the black darkness. But then his opponent turned around his head in just that moment to keep looking at Kakashi lying next to him who was not able to think straight anymore. Everything hurt. His body. His head.

His heart.

It hurt like hell, felt like it got ripped apart into a thousand pieces.

And then, after what felt like an eternity, Kakashi opened his mouth and said something. A single word, but it contained all the grief, all the pain, all the emotions he had tried to shut away during the last twelve years, but never succeeded. There hadn’t been a single day or night in which he hadn’t thought about what happened on that day he lost his lover, his soulmate, his best friend.

There hadn’t been a day on which he didn’t think about what could be if Obito was still alive.

Now he knew.

Losing him on that day twelve years ago and grieving every single day about him – or now seeing him being one of the members of Akatsuki, Kakashi’s enemy. He didn’t know what hurt more deeply right now.

Kakashi’s voice broke while he was trying not to give in to the darkness.

‘Obito …?’

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This was the final chapter of the second part of my fanfiction. I will upload the third part as soon as possible. Please make sure to stay tuned if you're interested in how the story will continue. You can subscribe to the series to not miss a chapter of the following story: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2050221
> 
> I'd really love to hear your opinion and thoughts on the story so far. Please leave a comment if you'd like to share something with me :)
> 
> See you soon!


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